Where there are electronics, there are mistakes — usually unwanted, but sometimes beautiful. “Year of the Glitch,” a project by artist Phillip Stearns, turns images from faulty wiring and corrupted files into art. Stearns is planning to document a different glitch every day this year, uncovering “the wilderness within the computer.” His pictures are situated in the larger field of glitch art, incorporating work from previous artists — the piece above, for example, includes pasted text from Rosa Menkman’s “Glitch Studies Manifesto.”
Year of the Glitch creates art from electronics gone wrong
The blog “Year of the Glitch” collects electronic glitches rendered into art by Phillip Stearns. A new glitch will be posted every day this year.
The blog “Year of the Glitch” collects electronic glitches rendered into art by Phillip Stearns. A new glitch will be posted every day this year.
is a senior tech and policy editor focused on online platforms and free expression. Adi has covered virtual and augmented reality, the history of computing, and more for The Verge since 2011.
So far, the images have come from “prepared” cameras, which are rewired or short-circuited to produce new effects. Stearns then manipulates the resulting images in a hex editor and GIMP to produce and enhance more errors. Later glitches may come from scanners, skipping CDs, or other disrupted forms of communication.
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