Casey Reas’ “KNBC” // Dec. 2015
This project is a continuous, generative collage created through an audio and visual distortion of television signals that are looped continuously as the data is extracted, amplified, and composed into a new stream. This installation combined coding, art, and sound into a unified piece of work. What I find interesting about this work is his unique artistic expression with a visual experience that builds upon conceptual art, experimental animation, and generative software technology. It’s full of chaos yet is somehow still kind of uniform by the symmetry of the visual distortion of the television broadcast signals. The audio played with the visual fits beautifully with the portrayed imagery by immersing the viewers with a haunting and eerie feel.
Reas wants to depict through his work that writing code is a versatile way of thinking of design, and not just another tool. Reas created his own called Processing, in hopes to inspire others, including his students at UCLA, to use code not only for STEM but also for visual arts. This project was inspired by his previous work that also focused on distorted, television-static imagery, such as “Tox Screen”, “Ultraconcentrated”, “100% Gray Coverage”, and others.
Video recording of the audio and visuals for Casey Reas’ “KNBC”.
Close-up picture of a generative visual for Casey Reas’ “KNBC”.
Animated gif of various images of Casey Reas’ “KNBC”.