bitwise splitting and merging of pixels / begins with chaos - lascaux
single channel video with audio
05:00 min
2024
bitwise splitting and merging of pixels / begins with chaos – lascaux captures an application programmed by kojima. using a public-domain image of the lascaux cave paintings as its point of departure, kojima sees this process as a metaphor for human perception and thus extracting meaning from chaos.
rejecting the image-collecting tendencies of ai, kojima turns instead to the structure of computation itself, bitwise logic, as a site for artistic intervention. in the video, the lascaux image is repeatedly encoded and decoded through xor (exclusive or) operations. this is a binary process that compares two sets of pixel values and outputs a new one based on their differences. each xor pass effectively merges and fractures the image at once, revealing what happens when representation is filtered through pure logic. as the image is split and recombined, bits invert and noise accumulates until the source dissolves into abstraction. the process exposes the instability of digital representation and the thin line between order and noise.
artist: kenji kojima
since the early 1990s, kenji kojima has been experimenting with the relationships between perception, cognition, technology, music, and visual art. he was born in japan and moved to new york in 1980. for the first 10 years, he painted egg tempera paintings. personal computers improved rapidly in the 80s. he felt more comfortable with computer art than painting. he transitioned to digital artwork. he developed the computer software "rgb musiclab" and created interdisciplinary works. his digital art has been exhibited in new york, media art festivals worldwide, and online exhibitions.
bitwise splitting and merging of pixels / begins with chaos - lascaux
single channel video with audio
05:00 min
2024
bitwise splitting and merging of pixels / begins with chaos – lascaux captures an application programmed by kojima. using a public-domain image of the lascaux cave paintings as its point of departure, kojima sees this process as a metaphor for human perception and thus extracting meaning from chaos.
rejecting the image-collecting tendencies of ai, kojima turns instead to the structure of computation itself, bitwise logic, as a site for artistic intervention. in the video, the lascaux image is repeatedly encoded and decoded through xor (exclusive or) operations. this is a binary process that compares two sets of pixel values and outputs a new one based on their differences. each xor pass effectively merges and fractures the image at once, revealing what happens when representation is filtered through pure logic. as the image is split and recombined, bits invert and noise accumulates until the source dissolves into abstraction. the process exposes the instability of digital representation and the thin line between order and noise.
artist: kenji kojima
since the early 1990s, kenji kojima has been experimenting with the relationships between perception, cognition, technology, music, and visual art. he was born in japan and moved to new york in 1980. for the first 10 years, he painted egg tempera paintings. personal computers improved rapidly in the 80s. he felt more comfortable with computer art than painting. he transitioned to digital artwork. he developed the computer software "rgb musiclab" and created interdisciplinary works. his digital art has been exhibited in new york, media art festivals worldwide, and online exhibitions.