C. TORNATZKY

fort collins, colorado


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LITTLE LIVES (2011)

This series of artworks investigates the modernist inheritance found in contemporary electronic art. This idea of the "integrity of materials" allows me to explore what is particular to the digital and how that parlays into material for art making. What is specific to additive color, what is distinguishing to the capability of the computer's processor, what is unique to the display device of the monitor?

This series tries to address the limitations and possibilities of the medium of electronic art. By de-constructing the usual presentation of materials with which we view our digital content, I am inviting others to consider the technology underneath. For visual content, I am using generative programming to create automatonic loops that play on the screens around the gallery. The creatures you see are not animations or videos, rather, they are experiments in artificial intelligence. Once the program is written and running, the inhabitants follow the rules dictated by the programming language and yet each follow their own paths within the parameters of those rules.

For me, watching these creatures as they move about in their little lives brings up the fears and joys found in my own mortality. While the programmatic loops can run endlessly, a limitation of the digital realm is that machinery and storage devices become quickly obsolete. Within five years it is likely that the software and technology will change to such a degree that these files will no longer work. I find mirrored in the loss of these files a bittersweet reminder of my own aging. The ultimate goal is to find a balance between the joy of gaining wisdom with the notion that death is not an abstract concept.


See some of the interactivity from this installation by clicking here.