Glitch: Designing Imperfection - Tapa dura

A glitch is the product of an error that results from a programs loss of control over its intended function. In the ongoing global quest for higher definition and faster information transfers, when a glitch occurs it is seen, accepted and usually fixes itself in the amount of time it takes for it to be noticed in the first place. Whether as a scrambled cable television delay, a page-loading error on an internet browser, a jumble of pixels on an ATM interface, or character substitutions on the screens in airports and train stations, we are accustomed to glitches as short-lived disturbances that populate our digital landscapes. Glitch consists of over 200 glitch images grabbed, composed and, in some cases, provoked by artists who urge viewers to consider these complex fragments of color and lines as thought-provoking mistakes. Cropped and manipulated to varying degrees, this collection of bits and bytes demonstrates how these perfect imperfections merit being considered in an aesthetic sense, no matter if as art or as advertising. Some of the mediums leading artists (like Angela Lorenz, O.K. Parking, JODI and Karl Klomp) provide insight into their methods and muse about what glitches mean to them. The images and text in Glitch invite readers to return to them over and over again because they capture the fact that no one can deliberately make a mistake, although mistakes are often the greatest source for inspiration.