Identidad

Every day we become a new version of ourselves. We adapt, we learn, we question our beliefs and we reinvent our identity. This work arises as my own attempt to explore and understand this process that, I would believe, we have all had to go through. Like the viewer, this production is constantly changing: it does not have an end, nor does it take on a specific form. Inspired by Ben Laposky’s “Oscillons”, it shares some of its most characteristic aspects, such as moving lines, the variety and overlapping of strokes, and the generation of abstract and similar designs. His work consists of a series of long exposure photographs on a screen that projects electronic waves, manipulated through an oscilloscope. What captured my attention were the infinite possibilities of generation, creating shapes that, while similar, are rarely exactly repeated.

This work invites the viewer to reflect on their own. The concept of transformation is not limited to identity, but also extends to the field of art and, I would dare say, to all the things that are part of our daily lives.

Technical, aesthetic and conceptual development

It all starts from one line. Or, we could also say, from the union between two points. A line that is immersed in a repetitive structure, which changes over time and leaves a path. But at the end of the day, it’s still essentially the same line.

The work begins with the creation of two coordinates on a canvas, with a specific position in space. To determine its location, a point created from Perlin noise is taken as an initial reference, an algorithm that allows working with pseudo-random values, but which are always close to each other. This differs from random generation, which produces unrelated values. By joining these points together, a line is generated.

With each iteration, the line gradually loses opacity, until it fades almost completely. Once it reaches this point, the previous drawing is erased and a new image is created, which starts from the last line previously drawn, but with greater intensity. This endless loop reflects the changing identity of the line. Once he is exhausted, he decides to start a new path, always starting from what he once was. Just as the line is recreated and transformed with each cycle, this transformation is also reflected in the artistic practice of the creator, who every time he produces a new work, is also producing himself. According to Brea, “The work itself, the activity that concretizes it, is actually what produces us. Perhaps we could even say that our work (the intellectual, the immaterial, the symbolic work) basically has to do with the production of people, like ourselves. We do not preexist (no one preexists) at any point to that production. The question of the egregious identity of the author or his condition is a definitively outdated question”.

In conclusion, the intention of this work is to go beyond the limits of the technique used and generate some type of reflection. On the other hand, in the words of Brea, “Computer art can be said with certainty that it has already been abandoned - or even that it has never produced work of real interest - since the territories of the synthesis image and the art of programming that were its own have revealed total impotence to contribute real findings to the tradition of immanent self-criticism that characterizes the development of 20th century art.”. From this work, precisely the opposite is sought: to address immanent self-criticism, so that the work can transform and critically reflect on itself.

Literature

BREA, José Luis. (2002). “Breve -y desordenado- anti glosario-o diccionario de tópicos-sobre el arte electrónico” en La era postmedia. Acción comunicativa, prácticas (post)artísticas y dispositivos neomediales. Salamanca: CASA Editorial.

BREA, José Luis. (2008). “Redefinición de las prácticas artísticas s21” en El tercer umbral. Estatuto de las prácticas artísticas en la era del capitalismo cultural. Murcia: CENDEAC.