ELLI E K E L L E R Materials + Methods March 2016
Ins tan t
Bits
Design
INSTANT BITS IS A series of photographs that were created on the premise of chance outcomes. The photographs were originally taken with an instant camera, scanned, and digitized onto a computer. The scans were then glitched through databending techniques. The series plays with the intricacies of analog-to-digital conversion—going from an instant film photograph to a digitally-glitched picture. Instant Bits aims to merge together analog and digital explorations to create images that utilize film photography and digital manipulation. The resulting prints have very visible elements of both film and digital output. I decided to explore chance outcomes through data-bending techniques because this was an area I have always been interested in, but have never attempted. I have seen many examples of glitch artworks, and the outcomes always appear varied, which made glitching an ideal technique to explore in relation to chance. I explored a few methods for glitching images, using WordPad, hex editors, and Audacity.
Statement
Sonification using Audacity yielded more interesting and varied results compared to other methods I tried, so I settled on developing a process involving Audacity.
number generator determined where and what effects would be applied. The edited sound file was exported back into an image file, which resulted in a glitched appearance.
All steps of the process were determined by randomized digital outputs. To begin, shooting locations were chosen by randomizing coordinates for latitude and longitude using a random number generator (random.org). Next, only a single picture was taken at each location using a Fujifilm Instax Mini 8. If the image were under- or over-exposed, I did not try to take a “better� picture, because the way the original images turned out on the first try was part of letting the outcomes be up to chance. Next, the images were scanned in at 1200 dpi; I picked a high resolution because the small polaroid pictures were going to be sized up for the remaining steps of the process. Each image was imported as RAW data into Audacity and they were converted into sound. Using the effects panel, random effects were applied to random segments of the sound file; a random
Ultimately, Instant Bits exploits the fact that all digital data is stored as bits and bytes, allowing for image files to be edited by software made for handling other media types. I am happy with the process I created, and I think my resulting images are all varied and different from each other. I wish I further explored other methods of manipulating the sound files within Audacity, such as cutting and pasting parts of the sound to physically manipulate the location of pixels. It would also be interesting to try and blend two images together by merging their sound files together. There are many interesting techniques in data-bending, and I definitely plan to explore them more in the future.
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Data
DATA-BENDING IS THE process of creat-ing glitches within media files such as image, sound, or video. Glitches are created by modifying raw file data, which results in randomization of the original pixels or sound. There are several methods to databending images, including methods utilizing software that is already installed on your computer.
T E XT E DITOR The text editor method is the most straight forward way of data-bending images. Simple open an image using TextEdit (Mac OS) or Word Pad (Windows). The resulting text will look like gibberish. You can copy/paste/cut/ add any of the text except for the top header area.
Bending
HE X E D ITOR
SONIF ICAT ION
A hex editor allows you to edit the binary code of an image using find and replace methods. For example, you could replace all instances of “110” with the word “burrito”. Often times, hex editors will produce more subtle glitches unless many elements are changed.
Sonification is the process of editing raw data of an image in an audio-editing software such as Audacity. The images must be in a lossless format such as raw, tiff, or bmp. A number of effects can be applied to the sound waves, as long as the length of the sound remains the same. I played around with a few techniques, but ultimately settled on using Audacity because of the unexpected, varied results it offered.
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Initial
I began by playing around with different methods of data-bending. Here are some of the results.
Explorations
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The
P ro ce ss
REQU IRED MATER IALS
ST E P ONE : LOCAT ION
• Fujifilm Instax Mini 8
Using google maps, find your current location. In the URL, a set of coordinates are present that represent your current location. Copy the coordinates.
• Google maps • Random number generwator (random.org) • Scanner • Audacity
Next, decide how far you would like to travel. By modifying the decimals of the coordinates—beginning at the hundredth or thousandth decimal point—you can obtain new coordinates for nearby walkable locations. By modifying from the tenth decimal, you will obtain locations that are within driving distance. If you are feeling bold, you can modify the numbers before the decimal, but this may send you to the Sahara desert or to the middle of the Amazon. I decided to modify from the thousandth domical point and onwards, which resulted in locations that I could walk to within 10 minutes from the starting point. Use a random number generator to obtain the new decimal points. Repeat the process 3 times to generate 3 unique locations.
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ST EP T WO: P HOTO WA LK
ST E P T HRE E : SCAN
With your trusty instant film camera in hand, set out to the predefined locations. Remember to take a friend, pack a snack, and enjoy! Snap one pic, and only one pic at each location. The picture may be over-exposed. Someone may have walked into your frame at the last moment, creating an unappealing blur to the right of the frame. But it doesn’t matter, this is all a part of chance.
Scan your images in at a high resolution. I used 1200 dpi.
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From left to right
SCAN ONE Coordinates: 43.6698523,-79.4201419 Picture taken outside a laundromat.
SCAN T WO Coordinates: 43.6603185,-79.4293403 Picture taken outside a house.
SCAN T HRE E Coordinates: 43.6647962,-79.4294495 Picture taken outside a house.
STEP FOU R: IMP ORT
ST E P FIVE : E DIT
Make sure your image files are in raw, tiff, or bmp format. If not, you can easily open a picture with a photo editing software and save the image in the desired format.
Use random.org, and generate a random number between 1-12 (fig 5.1). The result will be the number of effects you will apply to the sound waves. Next, you need to determine which sections of the sound waves you will be editing. If you got a 4, and your sound waves are 6 min 50 sec long (410 sec), you will then generate four sets of two numbers between 0-410 (fig 5.2).
Download audacity, and select file>import>import raw data. Select your image and ensure that the following settings are as follows:
The number sets determine the time spans you will apply different effects to. Apply one effect to each time span. It does not matter if time spans overlap. To determine what effects you will use, generate a random number between 126. The resulting number corresponds to the effect you will use. They are all listed under the effects panel (fig 5.3). .
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ST E P SIX: E XPORT Warning: do not use the following effects, as they can corrupt the image file
• Auto duck
• Change pitch
• Change speed
• Change tempo
• Nyquist prompt
• Paulstretch
If you land on any of these effects, generate a new number.
To export the sound waves back into an image file, select file > export audio file. Ensure that the following settings are as follows, then click save:
You will also have to manually type out the file extension in the file name (.raw, .tiff, .bmp). Make sure to use the same image format that you imported. You can open your glitched image and stare at it in awe!
Fig 5.1 Generating a number between 1-12 to determine the number of effects you will apply to the sound waves.
Fig 5.2 Generating number sets to determine the time spans that effects will be applied to.
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Fig 5.3 The effects panel
Effects
EFFECT ON E Effect added: Reverse Time interval: 236 to 367 seconds
Example
EFFECT TWO Effect added: click remover Time interval: 6 to 103 seconds
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EFFECT TH REE Effect added: sliding time scale/pitch shift Time interval: 108 to 154 seconds
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EFFECT FOUR Effect added: echo Time interval: 64 to 220 seconds
FINAL