THE DEVELOPMENT OF CAMOUFLAGE AESTHETICS

With the advent of New Media Art in the mid-20th century, the notion of camouflage in visual arts has been reimagined by transcending its traditional forms and entering into the realm of electronic visual art. These artists use digital software, algorithms, machine learning and interactive elements to create immersive and visually captivating experiences, blurring the line between virtual and real-world aesthetics. Camouflage aesthetics were adopted by New Media Artists to emulate the appearance of the digital landscape. Artists explore new visuals with glitch, pixilation, digital noise, and pattern recognition algorithms that challenge visual perception and disrupt traditional notions of visual arts. Now the complex relationship between identity and visibility can be dealt with innovative possibilities. The themes of privacy, surveillance, concealing and revealing aspects of one’s identity, blurring the boundaries between self-presentation and deception are addressed in new ways. The tool of audience interaction is also available to create different sensations amongst viewers, and facilitate communication between them and the artists.

CREATING CAMOUFLAGE WITH NEW MEDIA: VISUAL TECHNIQUES

Image Manipulation as a new visual language. As electronic image making developed, artists started exploring the possibilities of this new medium in every possible way (Meigh-Andrews 12).¹ A fault or disturbance in a regular transmitted video, now became a tool for these artists to develop a new language of visual art, that combined animated forms with melting colours and morphing visual elements. Later, with digital advancement, artists were able to camouflage shapes with patterns and other visual artefacts, or amalgamate multiple images in ways that were previously impossible with analogue systems.

Glitches: American visual artist Casey Reas deals with conceptual, procedural, and minimal concepts from a modern software perspective. His 10-minute-long digital video piece titled ‘100% Gray Coverage’ (2013) (Figure 1) was derived from the Signal to Noise, a computer program that turns terrestrial television signals into visual content from their raw form. He uses a sophisticated collage engine to create abstract graphics for this piece. According to him, Signal to Noise shatters and distorts current information into a new data structure, that creates the visuals much like the early twentieth-century collages made from that era’s media and mid-20^th century video collage ‘Television De-collage’ by Wolf Vostel (Meigh-Andrews 11).¹

Pixelation: The artist-filmmaker duo Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt from the UK named as ‘Semiconductor’, have created ‘Spectral Constellations’ (2021) (Figure 2) – a collection of generative animations that have been inspired by spectroscopy data of newborn stars. They work with spectral data as a physical material to create rings of light that imitate the graduated discs of planetary and stellar formations. The fragmented LED mosaics offer partial windows of the visual which crops the patterns as the spectrum data moves and shimmers to produce a raw visual experience.

Morphing: Through the process of machine learning artists create mesmerising effects of ‘morphing’. With this effect, one image, such as a face, can morph seamlessly into another. The stable identity of a face or an image is challenged with this visual idea. Mario Klingemann’s work, ‘Memories of Passersby I’ (2018) (Figure 3), uses a machine he made to generate portraits of non-existing people in an endless stream. He uses a collection of neural networks to analyse a large dataset of human faces from the great masters’ portraits. This work challenges the notion of the stable identity of an individual through the continuously shape-shifting nature of the faces.²

“Dazzle camouflage” in new media art. A technique for the camouflage of ships known as ‘dazzle camouflage’, was widely used in World War I and, to a lesser extent, in World War II and thereafter.³ It included intricate intersecting and overlapping patterns of geometric shapes.⁴ The purpose of dazzle, in contrast to other types of camouflage, is not to conceal the ship but to give rise to a deceptive visual for the enemies. New media artists have investigated the visual approaches of dazzle camouflage and translated it to the digital space. The installation ‘Datamatics [ver. 2.0]’ (2009) (Figure 4), by artist Ryoji Ikeda, a Japanese visual and sound artist, projects pulsating patterns of black and white lines  to a continuously shifting floor, giving viewers a hypnotic experience. Viewers walk on the projection, interacting with the animated bars that sometimes look like a zebra crossing, and sometimes like other visual codes that we use in our day-to-day lives, and thus get immersed in the artwork. This work camouflages viewers into the world of data, codes, and the binary processes of the digital world, and makes us reflect on the digital mechanisms that surround us.

Into More Advanced Technology. Machine Learning relies on the computer system analysing and learning a pattern or strategy of work through a huge amount of data that is fed into it. Kyle McDonald’s installation ‘Sharing Faces’ (2013-1014) (Figure 5) uses computer vision algorithms to instantly recognize and monitor the faces of visitors. The recognized faces are then smoothly included into the artwork, blending them with the other previously recorded images of faces. By doing this, McDonald’s artwork creates an interactive, constantly changing camouflage effect that adjusts and modifies itself in response to the presence and movements of its observers.

DEALING WITH DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF LIFE

Camouflage Aesthetics in search of identity. In the early stages of new media art, video artist Peter Campus worked with simple video cameras and early analogue instruments to create ‘Three Transitions’ (1973) (Figure 6), which moves video into the realm of psychology while working with the genre of self-portraits. ‘Three Transitions’ shows three individual single channel videos where the artist is seen doing an activity. In the first transition he makes a slit on his video image from the back and tears through it to appear in front of the video layer. In the second part he paints his face with invisible paint. The paint erases his face only to reveal the same face underneath, as if he is erasing his identity to expose another. In the third transition he sets fire on a page that has a living video image of him, to make his image disappear in the dark, as if his own identity disappears in the natural course. Through creating camouflage on the video image of his own face, Peter Campus questions the idea of self and identity, establishing a paradigm to address these concepts for future artists.

In the Haggerty Museum’s installation of ‘Three Transitions’ there was a white sheet with a slit in it, provided for viewers to pass through. Afterward, the images from the two video cameras, mounted on opposite ends of the sheet, are superimposed onto each other. This created the impression that the visitors are crawling through two of their own selves as they pass through the sheet– as though they have been turned into a double image. Thus, Campus deals with the notion of identity in his work and engages the audience to look for the answer to the question of identity and the ego of this self-conscious existence.

Dealing with the theme of privacy and surveillance. In the world of information-technology, the individual self is being packaged in the form of information and sold. Every move of a person can now be tracked under surveillance systems, with or without the individual’s knowledge and consent. Interactive video installation artist Raphael Lozano Hemmer addresses this issue in the work ‘1984X1984’ (2014) (Figure 7), the tenth piece of the “Shadow Box” series of interactive displays.

The artwork displays a grid of thousands of arbitrary numbers that were taken from addresses captured by Google Street View. The numbers have been scanned by Google from building entrances across the world, and show a wide range of typefaces, colours, textures, and styles. All the numerals repetitively countdown to show the number 1984, as the viewer approaches the display, their silhouette camouflaging in the grid of numbers. Thirty years after George Orwel’s forecast of the end of privacy, the artwork pays homage to his dystopian novel with the same name.

CREATING NEW WORLD OF ‘MAYA’

Immersive shows. The advancement of digital technology has opened up a new avenue in the realm of art with immersive video displays creating a sense of ‘Maya’ or illusion (from Indian philosophy) using software.⁵ The philosophy makes us aware of the unreal illusive nature of the material world around us. In this work an enclosed gallery space completely covered with the video projections gives the viewer an experience that has not existed until very recently. In this display, the viewers also become an essential part of the moving images as the projection falls over the viewer’s body along with the background. The visual identity of the viewer thus becomes camouflaged within the animation inside this space.

Artist Refik Anadol employs machine learning techniques to create an immersive media installation named ‘Archive Dreaming’ (2018) (Figure 8). He created the installation using interactions with the multi-dimensional data from various archives. Although the project is user-driven, when unattended, the installation seems to dream of surprising associations between documents. The multi-dimensional data and interactions that the installation produces are converted into an immersive architectural space through light, to create transient, mesmerising visuals on the walls. The viewer is immersed in the world around them. 

Projection Mapping. Our identity rests in our visual appearance. This is true for both people and non-living entities like buildings. In 1995, a building in Berlin called the Reichstag was entirely covered with white fabric by the famous artists Chirsto and Jeanne-Claude to conceal its identity and make it a site-specific Installation.⁶ In the age of New Media art, we see artists doing the same thing with the help of Projection Mapping on buildings, sometimes inside gallery spaces, and making spectacular displays where the details of the projection surface often appear as a part of the image. The objects either lose their identity or their identity is reimagined with these projected patterns and images.

Onionlab, a company that designs installations, has been creating and developing 3D maps using ground-breaking technologies. ‘Climate’ (2022) (Figure 9), directed by Jordi Pont and Aleix Fernandez is a projection mapping displayed on cathedral Saint-Étienne, France, during the Constellations de Metz festival. They have covered the façade of the cathedral with projected patterns creating virtual dialogues between the two parallel worlds of utopia and dystopia. 

Virtual Reality. The performance-art piece titled ‘Seeing-I’ (2020/2) (Figure 10) pushes the boundaries of psychology and sensory deprivation as it explores the self’s location in nature, as well as how this self interacts with society and technology. Artist Mark Farid uses a virtual reality headset to experience life through the eyes and ears of another person for a week as part of a public installation, hearing only what they have heard and seeing only what they have seen. 

The piece was inspired by Psychologist Philip Zimbardo’s the Stanford Prison Experiment (1971), Philosopher Jean Baudrillard’s ‘Simulacra and Simulation’ (1981), and Artist Josh Harris’ ‘Quiet: We Live in Public’ (1999). The constant barrage of manufactured images and noises have begun to replace Farid’s own internal dialogue even though he has had no connection with the other person. During the course of this performance Farid has not had any direct contact with people, which has allowed his fictitious relationship with the other person to take centre stage. Seeing-I applies the nature vs. nurture question to the digital age by challenging the notion of an intrinsic self, and questioning the role of digital landscapes in shaping individuals. 

CONCLUSION

Camouflage aesthetics lead us to issues of self-identity and realisation, privacy and surveillance, the experience of togetherness and alienation, the struggle to be one in the midst of a maddening crowd, and to be a human in the age of data traffic. As civilization grows, we become more attracted to the culture of moving images. New Media art takes advantage of this contemporary tendency to express and communicate through audio-visual and immersive experiences. It delves into the matter of surveillance and sense of security in a way where the question of being watched is equally important to the question of being unnoticed. Ultimately, camouflage aesthetics in new media art helps us understand ourselves in the context of an ever-evolving digital landscape.  

WORKS CITED

1. Meigh-Andrews, Chris. A History of Video Art. 2nd ed., United States of America, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2014.
2. “Morphing – Wikipedia.” Morphing – Wikipedia, 1 Jan. 2008, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morphing#:~:text=Morphing%20is%20a%20special%20effect,through%20dissolving%20techniques%20on%20film, accessed on 8^th August 2023
3. “Military Camouflage – Wikipedia.” Military Camouflage – Wikipedia, 26 Sept. 2016, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_camouflage, accessed on 8^th August 2023
4. “Dazzle Camouflage – Wikipedia.” Dazzle Camouflage – Wikipedia, 7 Jan. 2016, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazzle_camouflage, accessed on 8^th August 2023
5.  “Maya | Vedic, Upanishads, Yoga.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/topic/maya-Indian-philosophy, accessed on 8^th August 2023
6. “Christo and Jeanne-Claude.” Christo and Jeanne-Claude, https://christojeanneclaude.net/artworks/wrapped-reichstag, accessed on 8^th August 2023

LIST OF FIGURES WITH SOURCES

1. Figure: 1- “REAS.com Is a Database for Casey REAS.” REAS.com Is a Database for Casey REAS, https://reas.com/gray_coverage; accessed on 8^th August 2023
   1. “100% Gray Coverage by Casey Reas.” Casey Reas | 100% Gray Coverage | Sedition, https://www.seditionart.com/casey_reas/100_gray_coverage; accessed on 8^th August 2023
2. Figure: 2- “Spectral Constellations – Semiconductor.” Spectral Constellations – Semiconductor, https://semiconductorfilms.com/art/spectral-constellations; accessed on 8^th August 2023
3. Figure: 3- “Memories of Passersby I | Quasimondo.” Memories of Passersby I | Quasimondo, 29 Dec. 2018, https://underdestruction.com/2018/12/29/memories-of-passersby-i; accessed on 8^th August 2023
4. Figure 4- “Rafael Lozano-Hemmer – 1984×1984.” Rafael Lozano-Hemmer – 1984×1984, www.lozano-hemmer.com/1984×1984.php;  accessed on 8^th August 2023
5. Figure 5- “Archive Dreaming — AI Data Sculpture.” Refik Anadol, 3 Feb. 2017, https://refikanadol.com/works/archive-dreaming; accessed on 8^th August 2023
6. Figure 6- “Climate & Ndash; Onionlab.” Onionlab, www.onionlab.com/work/climate; Accessed on 8^th August 2023
   1. “Onionlab on Instagram: ‘We Are Excited to Present Our New Piece ‘Climate’, a Digital Dialogue Between Two Parallel Futures: A World Free From Global Warming and the Devastation of Our planet.What Kind Future Are You Working Towards? The Utopian or the Dystopian One?“Climate” Will Be Showcased From Tomorrow Until September 3rd at #ConstellationsdeMetz. Learn How to Find Us on @Constellations_De_Metz website.Many Thanks to @Jeremiebellot for Inviting Us to the Festival and Making ‘Climate’ Possible.#Onionlab #Installation⁠⁠ #Lightinstallation⁠⁠ #3dmapping #Projectionmapping #Newmediaart #Digitalart #Algorithmicart #Climatechange.’” Instagram, www.instagram.com/reel/CfHUb_NjamE; accessed on 8^th August 2023

7. Figure 7- https://www.seeing-i.co.uk/ . www.seeing-i.co.uk; accessed on 8^th August 2023