Itinerante sorpresa

The work is composed of a pattern of squares that occupy the entire worked surface while the thickness of each line varies constantly. Based on the series (Des)Ordes by Vera Molnar, this work takes reference from the artist’s processes and aesthetics to create a new generative composition.

Technical, aesthetic and conceptual development

DVera Molnar, known for her algorithmic way of thinking even before using computers, emphasizes three concepts that were fundamental to the development of this work: randomness, limiting yourself, and letting yourself be surprised.

Under this idea, the work began with the question: how can I limit myself and allow myself to be surprised by randomness? First, I showed works by the artist to my family, who made interpretations and reproductions on paper, thus reducing the possibilities of which work I could choose on my own. From paper to code, I tried these possibilities until I found greater aesthetic proximity to some of Vera’s works. Finally, the work was made taking reference from the series (Des)Ordes by Vera Molnar, where she creates a pattern of squares that are randomly interrupted to highlight the contrast between order and disorder, creating tensions, as if the squares were subjected to a vibrating force. The title is a play on words in French between two meanings: «désordres» (disorders) and «des ordres» (some orders), implying that within the apparent disorder a logic can be found.

In relation to the texts of José Luis Brea, in Brief (and messy) antiglossary (2002), it is tempting and confusing to want to place this work under the definition of net-art and new media-art, since its production was carried out in a specific medium (speaking of medium as support), but this does not mean that it can be seen in a different one, for example, from a monitor to a projection. On the other hand, in Redefinition of artistic practices (2008), I think it is important to highlight the notion of the responsibility of the artist as a producer of forms of socialization. One of the ways that Brea proposes is that of the generation of narratives through the movement-image, which has the capacity to expand in internal time, which this work does through its constant itinerancy, transforming itself, generating a multiplicity of variants of itself. On the other hand, I believe that another way can also be placed in relation, the way of generating conversational situations, because this production, whether in this text, or later in the classroom space, allows generating a conversation around the work made, the minified work, the referenced artist, even the processes carried out and the texts worked on.

Literature

BREA, José Luis. (2002). “Breve (y desordenado) antiglosario –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 (s. 21)” en El tercer umbral. Estatuto de las prácticas artísticas en la era del capitalismo cultural. Murcia: CENDEAC.

Valyi-Nagy, Zsofi. (2022). An Interview with Vera Molnar. Right Click Save.