City Glitch
Well known science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke has said “Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” I know, it sounds like the preface of an extraterrestrial rant, but Clarke speaks the truth. While I live by a philosophy of life that not only accepts things as they come, but also works to seizing every possible moment to step outside of ones comfort zone, I think this quote sums up a large portion of the human struggle. I say human struggle because we live in a society in which ever race, gender and socio-economic status claims to have a struggle. So, instead of focusing on what makes us different, I chose to focus on a similarity. Yes, on a philosophical note this quote makes sense, but it also does in the simplest of ways. Sometimes we wake up not wanting to talk to anyone (thanks to “the wrong side of the bed”). Sometimes our hearts pain for human interaction. It’s almost like we can’t control it somedays and on others we can. My glitch art piece focuses on this notion of human inconsistancy — the fact that there are over 7 billion people on the earth and our technology claims to bring us together, but it’s quite obviously, as we often admit in class, tearing us apart. Sometimes it’s necessary to take a lot around and acknowledge where we came from- in some form or another.
I looked up how many people occupy earth. So far, there are 7.125 billion individuals. It fascinates me because according to my beliefs, we all, came from two people — the people who were intended to be the only ones to occupy the planet. So for my glitch art, I consistently used the “7.125" number. I took a photo of a largely populated city filled with hustle and bustle and my results ended up looking a lot like nature. It reminded me of the mountains from my hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico and it combines how much I love living in a busy city. It shows how we, as humans often forget how beautiful nature is and sometimes it’s technology that reminds of where we came from.
I think that the beauty of this class is that we acknowledge just how ridiculous we can be in today’s society. I, myself, am guilty of posting a picture during “prime scrolling hours” or using social media because my desired field encourages it, but as we draw closer to summer, I can’t wait for the days when people appreciate the beach by Lakeshore campus, the mountains in my hometown, etc. Sometimes, the most introspective moments are the ones when we don’t act the most social, when we don’t yearn for human interaction, when we don’t thirst to be with people… Sometimes the most interesting moments are the ones that we spend in nature, admiring the view — and sometimes those moments end up on the other end of a computer screen- be it large or hand held. Either way, the purpose of my glitch are is not only to say “make something out of nothing,” but also to acknowledge that sometimes it’s 100% okay to get back to nature (whether by technology or not).
