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CRUFT: Art from Digital Leftovers

 

Robert Spahr

 

 

----------------------- Artist Statement -----------------------

CRUFT: Art from Digital Leftovers

 

I make work that spans computational art, performance, installation, painting and object-making, using collage, remix, automation, indeterminacy, and randomness to bear upon the computer and the Internet as machines that regulate and restrict just as much as they can be used to disrupt and resist dominant codes of seeing and being. My art practice reflects on our relationship to media technologies, especially surveillance and mind control, and in the process contemplates what a post-human art may look like. Organized under the umbrella concept of Cruft, I take apart, juxtapose, recycle, and interrupt the relentless flow of media to reveal a relationship in which we don't simply consume media, but are also consumed by it. Digital collages are created by scraping the web using computational algorithms that remix mainstream media sites like CNN with social networks of individuals, and reproduce, in mimicry of the 24/7 media cycle, the narrow choices permitted in public discourse. In another series of recent work, Machine Vision, I recombine footage from surveillance cameras with other media, to explore the relationship between war, surveillance, and automation within an overall machine aesthetic.

 

 

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Blue Colic Cruft
Started in 2014 with daily updates at 10:05 AM EST
Source: Surveillance camera in Southern Illinois & streaming National Public Radio
http://www.robertspahr.com/work/bluecolic/

 

This computer program downloads an image from the web of a surveillance camera located in Southern Illinois. The camera points at a pastoral scene consisting of a row of trees next to a country road, and in the distance is a small body of water. I was struck by the simplicity and beauty of this image, contrasted with the knowledge that someone for some reason is watching. What is the purpose of surveillancing such a peaceful place? When the CRUFT computer program downloads an image from the camera, as well as a short sample of news from the National Public Radio, they are copied and repeatedly manipulated by the algorithm, creating a short video that mashes together two different kinds of streaming data in what becomes a violent stuttering cough. archives: http://www.robertspahr.com/crufts/bluecolic/

 


(Example on YouTube: Blue Colic Cruft created 2014/04/15 @ 10:07am )

 

 

 

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Cliff Dwellers (Drone Study #4)Cruft
Started in 2014 with daily updates at 9:16AM, 11:16AM, 1:16PM, 3:16PM and 5:16 PM EST
Source: CCTV Cameras in the City of New York
http://www.robertspahr.com/work/cliffdwellers/

 

A series of images captured from a CCTV camera in New York City are processed to produce a ghost like animation.

Native American cliff dwellers were at the peak of their technological development circa the 12th and 13th centuries when they appear to have left quietly... Some theories include climate change, prolonged drought, topsoil erosion, de-forestation, and hostility from new arrivals. archives: http://www.robertspahr.com/crufts/cliffdwellers/

 


(Example on YouTube: Cliff Dwellers (Drone Study #4) Cruft created 2014/05/08 @ 3:16pm )

 

 

 

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DATA LOSS CRUFT (CORRUPTION)
Started in 2013 with daily updates at 9:22 and 3:22 AM & PM EST
Source: whitehouse.gov & thebureauinvestigates.com
http://www.robertspahr.com/work/dataloss/

 

This cruft algorithm downloads a recent photo from the Whitehouse.gov website as well as a report published by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism listing U.S. covert drone war casualty estimates. The text file of casualty estimates is literally inserted into the binary code of The White House photo. The drone war information becomes hidden from view, but corrupts the image producing visual distortion often referred to as a glitch. This work uses digital leftovers, consisiting of information either usually forgotten, or in the case of the drone war information, it is usually hidden, and in the process this cruft re-generates a new image by altering the data, which then reminds us of it's origin. archives: http://www.robertspahr.com/crufts/dataloss/

 

(Example of Data Loss Cruft created 2014/06/19 @ 9:22 am)

 

 

 

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SIFT CRUFT (AFTER SNOWDON)
Started in 2013 with daily updates at 8:15 AM, & 5:45 PM EST
Source: CCTV Cameras in the City of New York
http://www.robertspahr.com/work/sift/

 

This cruft images is created using a sequence of images captured from closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras watching commuters cross the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. The algorithm searches for an area of suspicion, which is then highlighted by a white circle. These images are collected morning and evening, at the times most suspicious activity occurs. archives:www.robertspahr.com/crufts/sift

 

(Example of Sift Cruft created 2014/06/19 @ 8:15 am)

 

 

 

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MANDALA CRUFT (OCCAM'S RAZOR)
Started in 2012, with daily updates at 5:39 and 11:39 AM & PM EST
Source: CNN.com
http://www.robertspahr.com/work/mandala/

 

This cruft algorithm extracts an image from the CNN home page once every eight hours. The image is then processed into a mandala, with the addition of the original source image and caption. CNN presents a constant stream of images of violence, potential terrorism, and the imminent hurricane or earthquake, as well as the daily dose of political polarization. As an artist I want to take these powerful source images and convert them into equally powerful images of peace. I hope you enjoy them, while also being reminded of the transformation from which they were created. archives:http://www.robertspahr.com/crufts/mandala/

 

 

Example of Mandala Cruft created 2013/06/08 @ 11:39 pm

 

 

 

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PERIWINKLE CRUFT
Started in 2009 with updates at 51 minutes past every hour
Source: a webcam of the sky over Southern Ohio
http://www.robertspahr.com/work/periwinkle/

 

This cruft algorithm captures a sample of the sky over Southern Ohio. This is accomplished by downloading a still image from a webcam once every hour. A small section of the sky is selected from the image and pasted into a grid containing 23 previous samples. The tiles are arranged from left to right, and top to bottom with the most recent sample in the upper left hand corner, while the oldest sample is in the lower right hand corner. A complete 24 hour period is presented displaying simultaneous snapshots. archives:http://www.robertspahr.com/crufts/periwinkle/

 

Example of Periwinkle Cruft created 2014/06/19 @ 7:51 am

 

 

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More examples of Cruft can be found at http://www.robertspahr.com/work/

 

 


Robert Spahr makes visual art that spans computational art, performance, installation, painting and object-making, using collage, remix, automation, indeterminacy, and randomness to bear upon the computer and the Internet as machines that regulate and restrict just as much as they can be used to disrupt and resist dominant codes of seeing and being. Recent exhibits include the Generative Art International Conference, Rome, Italy 2013; PRISM Breakup @ Eyebeam, NYC 2013, ReFest / Art+Tech Festival 2013, organized by CultureHub at La Mama, NYC 2013; Neuromast: Certain Uncertainty and Contemporary Art, Franklin Street Works, Stamford, CT 2013; Interrupt II Festival and Conference - Brown University, Providence RI 2012. Currently Robert is an Assistant Professor at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. An archive of his work can be seen online at http://www.robertspahr.com

 

 

 

 

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