Sometimes, art is not about perfection. Either in form, technique or subject, it is often the mistakes, the aesthetics of flawed that emotes beauty in the viewer. The digital era, like all before it, has its own unique art forms, dictated by the possibilities and limitations of the technology used in it. One specific digital art form thrives on those limitations, taking what most of us consider a nuisance at best and turning it into a way of expression – glitch art.
Glitches are momentary faults in a system that correct themselves. Even thought the term is used for any system or organizational unit, most of us have seen and used them in context of computers. The difference is, as it always is, that while glitches are seen as mistakes and inherently bad by many, to few they are the perfect components for creating art.
First associated with experimental electronic music in the 90ies the term glitch, as a way of expression, soon shifted to VJs playing those parties, using it as a form of visual aesthetic that accompanied the music in real time. With new media studies at art collages and personal computers breaching every household, a glitch had become an interesting new tool for experimentation in the art and DIY computing circles.
Although with a certain tradition to its name in Zagreb, being sporadically used by avant-garde artists in certain projects, glitch art has only recently seen a rising interest in newer generations of fine art students and programmers, and a certain scene is in a process of forming for the last couple of years.
Enter Fubar, a festival of sorts that gathers local and international glitch artists for a five day multimedia participatory event that focuses on different aspects of the new art form with exhibitions, art talks and lectures, educational workshops, audio visual art performances and glitch-bound parties.
Held at the Academy of Fine Arts and Medika (an alt-scene cultural center) from September 19th to September 23rd, Fubar aims to both present the current scene and trends in the art form and to make the concept more accessible to wider audiences with no prior experience in it through free workshops.
The program of Fubar is as follows:
TIMETABLE
Monday, September 19th
21:00 – OPENING: Xenomorphia & Wearing Masks: (Extra)terrestrial Calls Across The Glitch Universe – Tea Stražičić, Marta Stražičić / Schwestern Sisters (CRO) & Peter Christenson (USA) [work presentation, Q&A]
Tuesday September 20th
13:00 – 16:00 Glitch playground [WORKSHOP @ hacklab01] 20:00 – Lines and roads – Ismaël Joffroy Chandoutis [SCREENING, Q&A @ Siva Galerija] 15:00 – 20:00 Exhibition [Siva Galerija]
Wednesday September 21st
13:00 – 14:30 CinemaDNG glitch [WORKSHOP @ hacklab01] 16:00 – First Time’s Free: Dealing Cultural Capital & Making Art Addicts [ARTIST TALK @ ALU] 15:00 – 20:00 Exhibition [Siva Galerija]
Thursday September 22nd
13:00 – 16:30 Sonification – data as sound [WORKSHOP @ hacklab01] 17:00 – Introduction to (un)intentional errors in analogue film and photography [LECTURE @ hacklab01] 15:00 – 20:00 – Exhibition [Siva Galerija]
Friday September 23rd
13:00 – 15:00 – Making an image codec for artistic purposes [WORKSHOP @ hacklab01] 15:00 – 22:00 – Exhibition [Siva Galerija] 22:00 – SKNAIL Zagreb Session [CONCERT @ CLUB ATTACK] & Night-long audial abductions by DJ Twitching Miasma
The exhibition in Siva gallery is open daily for the duration of /‘fu:bar/, a series of new media workshops is taking place in hacklab01 , the Academy of Fine arts is hosting Peter Christenson, an American multidisciplinary artist who will hold an artist talk titled First Time’s Free: Dealing Cultural Capital & Making Art Addicts.
/‘fu:bar/ is closing on September 23rd, with SKNAIL Zagreb session – a Swiss glitch-jazz pioneer who will, in collaboration with local jazz artists, perform an on-site debut concert.
Entrance to all events is free. Workshop applications aren’t required.
Events taking place at hacklab01, Siva gallery and club Attack are part of Medika alt-scene cutlure center, Pierottijeva street 11.
