Vectorial Pixels Visual Aesthetics of Binary Code

• Published in: Art, Media Design, and Postproduction Vol. 1; pp. 41 - 49
• Main Author: Navas, Eduardo
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 2018
• Edition: 1
• Subjects: Campbell’s Soup Can; Regenerative Remix; Vector Graphic Software; Contemporary Art History; Vectorial Pixels; Winter Olympic Games; Chris Milk; Remix; Jeff Wall; Deliberate Interpretation; Vector Illustration; Photographic Snapshot; Open Guidelines; Meryl Streep; Composite Imagery; Analog Photography; Vector Graphics; Digital Composite; Johnny Cash; Stylized Composition; Brooke Shields; Cinematic Special Effects; Software Mashups; Digital Reproduction; Sochi Olympics
• ISBN: 113821132X; 1138211338; 9781138211322; 9781138211339
• DOI: 10.4324/9781315453255-6

Chapter 4, “Vectorial Pixels,” considers how common perceptions of photographs and drawings are evaluated and legitimated in culture based on an implicit understanding of both forms being reconfigurable. The common understanding of both forms being editable was not always the case prior to the ubiquity of computing in daily life. The point in this chapter is to explore the creative possibilities of images that may be perceived as photographs, drawings, or a combination of both in terms of indexicality and selectivity; meaning whether or not an image appears to be a denotative or evidentiary presentation of a subject over a representation that appears to be a selective or stylized composition. The guidelines in this chapter are designed for the critical awareness of the popular binary at play in manual analog production and digital reproduction that remains part of the cultural understanding of images of all types. "Vectorial Pixels," considers how common perceptions of photographs and drawings are evaluated and legitimated in culture based on an implicit understanding of both forms being reconfigurable. This chapter examines indexicality and selectivity in direct relation to pixels and vectors as creative variables in photographs and drawings. It evaluates how visual forms have been redefined by computing in art and media design. The chapter explores the creative possibilities of images that may be perceived as photographs, drawings, or a combination of both in terms of indexicality and selectivity; meaning whether or not an image appears to be a denotative or evidentiary presentation of a subject over a representation that appears to be a selective or stylized composition. The relation of photographs and images that appear to be hand drawn becomes further complicated with pixel-based and vector images.