The Glitch Studies Manifesto resonated with me on multiple levels. As someone who's been interested in technology for quite some time, celebrating the perceived "failure" of tech as an opportunity to question our relationships with everyday tools is something that I feel I've always believed in but never had the words to express. I've been fascinated with the glitch aesthetic on a visual level for a few years now, but ever since I was a kid, I've also been drawn to sci-fi narratives that explore what it means to be human through a technological lens. Whether it be questioning the nature of the soul through sentient robots and AIs, or using cybernetic enhancements to discuss the inherent strangeness of having a body. I feel that glitch studies takes these sort of conversations out of a fictional context and examines them through real life phenomena, adding a more grounded tone.
I took away three core ideas from this document: Perfection is impossible, perfection is a construct built by those in power, and random chance is a way to combat that power. The first sentiment is fairly self-explanatory--in the information age, we value the idea of perfection more than ever. We strive for perfect technology, perfect bodies, perfect lifestyles, and so on. However, these ideals are ultimately unattainable. Without fail, glitches and errors will seep into whatever endeavors we take on, and trying to fight that basic fact of reality only leads to burnout and even madness.
However, perfection is not only impossible, but poisonous. In the specific context of technology, we are often told upon receiving a tool the "best" theoretical ways of using it by that tool's creator, limiting our creativity and locking us into the "right" way to do things. However, when we reject this idea of the proper, normalized ways of utilizing technology, we are then able to discover new possibilities previously unknown.
Unfortunately, the unknown is scary, and we all avoid it in our own ways. Hence, the beauty of the random glitch. As we witness the corruption of supposed perfection, we are allowed a glimpse at what could be in its place. Through random chance, we are forced to witness raw potential, and since we are innately curious creatures, we then feel the need to pursue it, despite the unknown. More often than not, the abstract idea of something new is far more intimidating than actually experiencing something new in the moment.
All in all, I enjoyed the philosophies presented in this manifesto, even if I didn't dive into everything I picked up on in this blog. I appreciate the continued theme of... rebellion??? in digital art, which I remember also being prominent when we studied net.art in Digital Art 1. I'm excited to engage with glitch art further in this course, and to incorporate its ideas into my art in the future.
Commentaires