Introduction: Glitches, Joseph Campbell, and a History Project

What is glitch art, anyway? Technology has afforded us a new way to make art, by breaking down something to its most basic components and then messing with it. According to Wikipedia, it's "the aestheticization of digital or analog errors."  Glitch art is very broad, you can make images, sounds, a combination of the two...etc. The cool thing is, it's a very random art. It requires a lot of experimentation and patience and you're never quite sure how things are going to turn out. This art form unique, exciting and very fun.

Joseph Campell is an American scholar who, among other things, discussed the importance of myths and archetypes. It's his work that helped greatly influence George Lucas in the creation of Star Wars. Joseph Campbell taught that there are some universal stories that have existed from the beginning of time and will continue to exist long into the future. As humans, we draw upon a universal pool of human experience, nothing we create belongs completely to us personally. We are constantly drawing upon things discovered by our forefathers, who drew upon things discovered by their forefathers...etc.

So, how do these two things connect? These two concepts combine in my project for History of Creativity. My plan: First, find pictures that best cover the span of history that we covered. Next, I get to interact with these pictures through glitch art, exploring the combination of past and present. Finally, I combine all these experimentations into a mosaic of myself, exploring the concept of how I am not only connected to the past, but also have a hand in how it influences my future.

With that, I welcome you. Explore. Enjoy! It's going to be an interesting ride, that's for sure.