As a child, computer glitches used to be annoying instances that would appear and disappear in seconds. Slowly, as Digital Culture has become an omnipresent part of our lives, glitch art has become an emerging field of creativity and art. Glitch art uses digital technology and the digital world as a medium to distort images by morphing different pictures and effects together, creating some of the coolest forms of digital art.
How did it start? With an error. It’s quite astounding to think that one of the coolest forms of 21st-century art developed only because of a mistake. However, now when you see a new glitch art piece, it is an intentional distortion that is highly curated. It is the distinct haphazard seeming errors and distortions that make this form of art stand out. As art usually has subtle nods to different cultures, every distortion in glitch art is a nod to digital culture. This form of art is not just static. Considering the possibilities available in the digital world, this form of art can be in different mediums including visual as well as music. A combination of static, music and fluid visual effects can create new rich experiences.
Glitch art includes different characteristics. This includes pixelation noise, double exposure, pixelation, noise and grain, and light leaks. Different modern and post-modern movements can also be observed in this form of art such as cubism and late 20th-century movements like the avant-garde. This art, in essence, is also based on Salvadore Dali and Pablo Picasso’s art. Today, new names are emerging in this new art form including Rosa Menkman, Raul Zaritsky, Dick Ainsworth, and many more. Creativity and human experiences can be expressed in many forms. It started with drawing with chalk on caves, passed through paper and paint, and today, the means of expression is digital. Glitch art is one such step in that unending human progress toward new ideas.
