PUNCTUM CAECUM

“Blind point”, or Punctum Caecum is

the place in the visual field that

corresponds to the lack of light-

detecting photoreceptor cells on

the optic disc of the retina where

the optic nerve passes through the

optic disc. Since there are no cells

to detect light on the optic disc,

a part of the field of vision is not

perceived. The brain interpolates

the blind spot based on surround-

ing detail and information from the

other eye, so the blind spot is not

normally perceived.

Our concept is based on the idea of

implementing the glitch effect in

reality.

This visual effect was used as a

means to recreate the transmitions

that would be impossible in real

life, but which could only exists

through the use of the glitch effect.

With this method we can create a

synergy of both realities; analogic

and real life.

Within our field of view there are

multiple blind spots (Punctum Cae-

cum) in which our brain simulates

the missing infomration of reality.

Therefore, our glitches are made to

complete the reality.

Referências: Menkman, Rosa — The Glitch Moment(um); citação de Jacques Derrida.Autores / ilustradores: Haile Pimenta, Roberto Guerreiro, Romina Narciso, Vladislav Shvedchikov, Yeda Silva, Andrea Inštitorisová.Impressão: 150 grFonte: Courier New & Teletext

405

407

409

411

413

415

417

419

421

423

425

GLITCH

During the process of capturing the analogic signal that is required by the resource of magnetic band based recording devices, there are several possibilities that could be ommited and misunderstood by electric recep-tors. That information, captured by the receptors could suffer a number of problems regarding the failure of recording. That failure could be confirmed and verified during the gathering of the information by the user, who filmed the scene.

Let’s list some of the most common problems that might occure during recording; corrupted signal, jagged lines on the screen, misplaced squares, static looking effects, freezing problems, or inverted colors. A variety of issues such as interference from portable elec-tronics or microwaves, damaged or partially plugged-in cables at the broadcasting center, or weather, as

405 GLITCH

factors that can contribute to these visual defects. These defects are captured on the magnetic receptors and passed to the final production due to there being no identification of error by part of the machine, but by the user. The normal procedure of the observation, valued by the human couldn’t be done by the analogical machine because of the inability to differenciate the normal output from the glitch.

After this information we can agree with the existence of the misun-derstanding of the glitch by the machine, as the correct information. Only human recptors could identify this type of output information as a mistake regarding the desired out-come, passed through the perception of the reality and comparing it with the final result.

PROCESS

407 PROCESS

Following the idea of our concept, Punctum Caecum, we have developed in simple communication a way to retrace our steps.

Our process, despite seeming complex to the observator; when broken down to the various concepts that under-line it, becomes understandable in a simple way.

Since the concept is based on the Punctum Caecum, the blind spot we have shaped our results to portray the main idea.

The images were captured by VHS camera in different possitions, cor-responding the movement through the walls, objects, stairs and various other ways which are impossible in reality. Our attempt is to recre-ate the gaps, that our blind spots simulate.

For the next step the information

was gathered and processed with a decoder to the computer.

During the captured playback, the random glitch occurrences were applied to the analogical decoder. We explored the various types of glitch that can occur analogically, given the equipment that was utal-ized.

As a result, we created the follow-ing material, to represent the blind spots as a space where glitches can happen.

CAMERA

409 CAMERA

Varied issues arise when captur-ing information with a VHS camera. The most common of problems that can occur is due to the medium in which it is recorded. The video home system(popularly known as VHS) depends on a magnetic frequency between the filmstrip that is situat-ed on the underside of the tape, and the photodiodes that convert light into into current. This process can easily be disrupted by in various stages, and if this is the case , the result manifests itself almost always in the same way. Because the combination of two or more magnetic waveforms ends interference; the result in which the experiment was recorded, will either suffer from a slight displacement, be re-enforced or completely be canceled.

This is the main drawback when recording in VHS: interference is always present. The quantity of

interference that is generated is the only variable that can not be directly controlled , therefore the main issue with using the video home system is when the magnetic reso-nance from the tape manifests itself in the final result. This occurrence appears on video as a slight dis-placement of the image, and a thin strip of visual noise across the screen in a horizontal direction.

RCAThe term RCA is an abbreviation that derives from Radio Corporation of America. It is in reference to the audiovisual cables that have been in use since the 1940s. The success attributed to these cables is that their design prevents interference, unless they are plugged in incor-rectly. The result of improper use of RCA cables will culminate in glitches.

During this process, the objec-tive was to create the maximum of interference without completely unplugging the cables responsible for transporting the visual results. If completely unplugged the video will simply not show on the screen, independent of what content is has or if it has glitches or not. The objective is to create a type of “short circuit” that partially permits anagogic information to pass through to the decoder within the

video home system player. The opti-cal result of an interrupted process will generate a characteristic visual noise, in which the affected frames will seem to have blotches of colours randomly appearing on the frames.

411 RCA

FAST-FORWARDThe effect of fast forward could be understood as a speed acceleration of the magnetic band during the reading of the information. This acceleration creates distortions to the output, cased by the inability to read all the information by the receiver of signal.

Fast forward is using to find the desired moment of the moment. In the VHS practice it could damage the magnetic band and the receiver, as they wasn’t been prepared for using on high speeds.

Grey lines on the image normally transmitting the loss of the signal. The signal that couldn’t be pro-ceeded by the receiver. The position and effect of this lines caused by the speed of rotation, position of the magnetic band and the conditions of the receiver.

The glitch effect, caused by the

failure of the information is trans-mitted to the output device and represented as an absence of the information.

413 FAST-FORWARD

TRACKINGTracking is the process in which magnetic waves are aligned to pulsations that correspond to the beginning of frames. This process permits the video cassette player to synchronize the speed in which it processes the information on the filmstrip, and the speed in which the tape is recording. When the tracking alignment is voluntar-ily mismatched, the result can bear infinite possibilities, due to the fact that each frame is dif-ferent from each other. The type of irregularities that will appear visually include: the appearance of two video-frames within the same frame, visual noise, colour might be slightly faded or completely in black and white, and the juxtaposi-tion of images.

The intentional unsynchronization of the magnetic tape and the VHS player will manifest greater glitches over

time, as the distorted playback con-tinues. The bigger the gaps between the oscillations, the more of the “glitching” effect will occur audibly as well as visually. The quality of the video will degrade in its visual aspects, with each pulsation making it gradually more distorted in relation to the original recording. The loss of quality due to improper alignment of bandwidths is referred to as generation loss.

415 TRACKING

FREEZE-FRAMEThe freeze-frame technique is rep-resented as a sequence of single shot several times, creating the effect of illusion, when one object is freezed, while the other objects are moving. By using this effect, the object could be attached to the zone and the main action could be executed separately.

Normally freeze frame shot is used by the directors to gain a better focus on to a character’s facial expression or emotion at a critical scene or similar sequences.

In our case freeze framing was caused by the glitch effects that changed the position of the main caracter, but the contest of the filming scene continued.

The frame represented the levitation process in interesting position. Normally glitch caused freeze-frame occurs during the missing of the

information, sent to the output device, randomly mixed with next frames. So this is one of the rarest effects that could be noticed and captured.

Still image on the scene could make different effects, regarding the observators eye and represent the object as something, that was separated from the main flux of the outputed magnetic band.

417 FREEZE-FRAME

SPECTRUMThe results of a glitch can vary significantly. In the case of minor warps in coding and decoding, and possible variations regarding the input and output or other protocols, the final visual result of the images may not be compromised in it´s totality.

The way that the recording is coded in the coding/ decoding part of the process, is the only part that can be held accountable for the inver-sion of colours.

However if it passes as valid information to the next step of the process, then it will be processed as if those were the original col-ours captured.

The receiving end , in this case, the decoder of information, can not differentiate our perceptual reality from the reality that is recorded on the VHS tape.

The intentional application of this type of glitch is practically impossible due to the fact that any glitch (in the strictest sense of the word)is un-intentional, fur-thermore, this informational mishap could manifest itself in the most random way, or in the slightest manner.

419 SPECTRUM

DECONSTRUCTIONGlitch is a significant inter-pretation of the visual objects representad by the destruction sense.

In philosophy, deconstruction is an attempt to expose and undermine such metaphysics.

Deconstruction denies the possibil-ity of a pure presence and thus of essential or intrinsic and stable meaning — and thus a relinquishment of the notions of absolute truth, unmediated access to “reality” and consequently of conceptual hierar-chy. “From the moment that there is meaning there are nothing but signs.

We think only in signs.” Language, considered as a system of signs is nothing but differences. Words have meaning only because of contrast-effects with other words.

To be effective, deconstruction needs

to create new terms, not to synthe-size the concepts in opposition, but to mark their difference and eternal interplay.

In this case glitch creates new items that could be proceeded as a sign with several corruptions, creating a sligtly ordered chaos.

421 DECONSTRUCTION

NOISEThe term noise derives from the static that can occur visually and audibly when an anagogic televi-sion is not tuned in to a station or playing-back recorded video.

The random pattern is caused by statistical quantum fluctuations, which is then translated visually to what is generally referred to as “shot noise”. Noise can be simulated in various ways , as it is the most common type of interference, and the results are almost always similar in terms of appearance.

With the existence of more fac-tors that can contribute to noise, the effects get progressively more complex . Such aspects can be attributed to the various acts of implementing an interference, which in general will almost certainly generate noise and more visual effects.

The piling-up of effects will occur due to the principle of wave propa-gation. The principle states that interference is an occurrence where two or more waves superpose to crate a result of greater magnitude.

The interference occurs because they are either from the same source or because they are of nearly the same frequency.

423 NOISE

FEEDBACKVideo feedback is correspondent to acoustic feedback (which is the most known popularly), but in visual terms. As a concept, the idea of feedback is that the output and input work in an endless loop, both feeding information into each other, and feeding off information that they each were designed to produce.

In what concerns audio-visual pro-ductions, the concept of feedback is more complex . In video, feedback can be created un-intentionally by directing the source of input towards the source of output ( a camera filming a screen), however it will generate a result that is not perceptible within our parameters of reality, and will show frequencies that the input and output operate on.

In addition, the images that were captured will co-exist with the signal that is creating them, there-

fore, visually both the intended captured images and the feedback will appear.

A different way of generating feed-back is by interfering in the process in an inverted manner. By having the output feed informa-tion to the input while the input is still recording, a new type of interference is created.

In this intentional type of dis-tortion, the parameters of the feedback, as well as the amount of recorded material will “compete” and eventually find a balance visu-ally, creating a mirror effect that is replicated and manifested in a fractal manner.

425 FEEDBACK