DAMIÁN ANACHE - COMPRE(HEN)SSION OF ARTIFACTS 3.5" FLOPPY DISK

from STRUDELSOFT

Files Included:

DamianAnache-2024-CompArtifacts.mp3
994.2 kB
(mono, 8Khz, 16bit, 05:28)

DamianAnache-2024-CompArtifacts.gif
332.5 kB
(320x240, 4 c, 55 frames, loop, 6.6 sec)

About the Piece
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Recursive pixelization and self-referencing of data within a collage. This work repeats fragmented, distorted, and faded elements over and over again, drifting towards abstract degradations and looped simulations. It circles back on itself endlessly until exhaustion, insisting on conveying its original message (much like this very sentence). Words, sounds, and textures merge and disintegrate into noise without an apparent pattern but remain very present. The subject stretches, compresses, and expands, showcasing the possibilities of technological replication generating subpar prints, leaving a lasting impression both on paper and in our minds.

This work is the audio version of a piece that also has its audiovisual variant. To create it, I began by rewriting the words of an inspiring piece and recorded myself reading them. Then, I compressed that file repeatedly using a lossy format. Simultaneously, in line with Walter Benjamin's ideas about aura and apparatus, I made photocopies of the manuscript repeatedly and digitized each of those sheets. Afterward, I cut out fragments of these sound and visual elements, piecing together the video like a collage.

I drew inspiration from Steve Reich's ideas about "Music as a Gradual Process" and William Basinski's "The Disintegration Loops" to define the temporal narrative. Although there was a strong connection to these ideas in the initial drafts, only a trace of that background remains in the final version. Later on, when finishing some audiovisual clips, I made recursive destructive video compressions that pixelated everything. Finally, I used a camera to record the screen of the monitor where I was editing the partial clips and added these additional layers of self-referential images to the project.

Initially, the piece started as a compressed intertextual experiment inspired by Alvin Lucier's "I am Sitting In a Room." As I progressed, it evolved into a blend of various technological manipulations, incorporating both calculated and precise technical moments and intuitive decisions with arbitrary and imprecise touches.

Includes unlimited streaming of Compre(hen)ssion of Artifacts via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.