Databending is similar to many art processes in that it is a sort of trial and error, where one has to see how the materials respond to certain actions, and experiment to try to understand how to manipulate said materials. However, I feel that this is different than most processes I am familiar with in that I can’t really see what’s going on while I’m experimenting, instead I have to make sort of a guess of what might achieve something desirable.

The first 9 images were created on a mac, and the following 11 were created with the glitch website on my pc.  I had difficulty trying to get the process to work on my laptop, hence the website being used for most of them, but then I was able to create some in the computer today on a mac. My favorites are definitely the first two, and then the 14th image (the blue guy). For the first two, I love the random way the image is broken up, as well as the many different color groupings that came out of just one image. For the blue guy, I love the way the face is distorted and fragmented, it almost feels like wind is blowing it into pieces or strips I also like the alternation of light and dark strips, as well as the overall colors in the image. I think what I tried to do for most of the website images was play around with the setting so that they broke up the image in a way that caught my attention, For the process on a mac however, I either cut and pasted 1-5 rows of code or I copy and pasted. I noticed a general theme with the process for the mac, where it always either produce a fragmented quality(like the first two images), a linear design (like the prints or the one with the standing boy), or it just made the image blurry with small crinkle/ripple patterns (like the third image or the one with the water).

I learned how to use both the website and the mac process in order to achieve glitched images. It was more difficult to do on a mac of course, because it felt much more left up to chance and took longer to get images to feel done. For the website, I’d say the most challenging part was trying to get pictures that really appealed to me while playing around with the million different options and combinations. For the ones I did on the mac, I think I enjoyed the surprise much more, but it was definitely challenging to continuously edit certain images that didn’t feel right and at the same time try not to over edit and then mess up to where I would have to start over again. I think the mac process was definitely more fun however, because it was exciting to convert an image back after editing it and then open it like a surprise.

I think this activity felt most similar to when I work with plaster of paris (which also happens to be the first 3 images). I have some control over the composition as I pour it, but ultimately as it sets it changes somewhat, and it can be continuously added on as well. Part of that process is out of my control, just as is the case with the databending.

I think that this activity connects to my understanding of design thinking because it involves playing around with color and composition to try to get an appealing image. One way to use this in an art classroom is when introducing concepts like flexibility, abstraction, color schemes and composition. It is also good for teaching about using previous artwork as source material.