Feral File, the p1xelfool: gämma show

Feral File is pleased to announce gämma, an exhibition of 33 unique artworks by generative artist p1xelfool, the gallery’s first exhibition minted on Tezos.

Curator kerry doran on the exhibition:

“Pixels are the smallest element that can be displayed on a digital screen, groupings of which comprise the billions of still and moving images in circulation today. Pixels are not dissimilar to gamma rays, the shortest yet most powerful of the rays in the electromagnetic spectrum. The difference between them would seem to do with perception: gamma rays are invisible, pixels are not. However, both require specifically designed environments to engender visibility, such as a scintillation detector or a computer with a digital display. Because of the relative ubiquity of the latter, the specificity — and necessity — of the computer environment may be easily overlooked, if not forgotten, when perceiving pixels. The seduction of the screen, with its pixel-based representations, obfuscates the fusion of software and hardware that illuminate content: code and cold cathode. As p1xelfool says, ‘Code = light.’

In gämma, p1xelfool fuses pixels with light, with code. With such an emphasis on these materials and their visual properties, the works may seem formalist. Indeed, the generative compositions are strikingly geometric and inorganic; for those familiar with p1xelfool’s larger body of work, those in gämma may come across as austere in comparison. Yet these works are deeper than their surface. p1xelfool’s approach is intent on reconnecting color and light with the computer environment to create engrossing sensorial experiences specific to it.”

Preview of the Artworks:

“0 + 0 * 11” by p1xelfool. Image courtesy of the artist and Feral File

The 33 unique artworks presented in gämma are self-contained systems; each contains 3 seeds generated by the system, selected and arranged by the artist to comprise the final composition.

p1xelfool conceptualized these works with Processing, its visual and responsive coding environment feeling more expressive to the artist than analog painting. The works are executed with p5.js, which allowed p1xelfool to program pixels in the browser in real-time. “Instead of asking the program to draw lines, I asked it to manipulate the pixel arrays,” he describes. This underscores the conceptual motivation of the project, namely, the reappropriation of pixels (and light and code) rather than the visuals produced by them. When viewing the work, there is the option to hit the “P” key to pause the pattern; hitting the “S” key will save and download the frame.

p1xelfool’s generative animations are inspired by the logic of particle systems, yet they share no reference to the natural world. The visual environments of the works are specific only to the computer. In each work, two superimposed and interrelated systems simultaneously interact with one another. Their interrelated velocities determine the speed at which blocks of interplaying (and playful) color seem to descend to the bottom of the screen, cycling through new patterns and creating the illusion of endlessness. Colors and patterns are rhythmic and vibrational; visual pleasure is immense and infinite.

About Feral File

Feral File is where artists, collectors, and curators convene to co-create a new paradigm for digital art. We commission curated exhibitions of file-based artwork, and partner with artists and institutions to establish transparent protocols for exhibiting and collecting. Evolving from the art gallery and digital publishing models, we are borrowing the best traits of each to inform a new kind of art space. Feral File works in tandem with a community of technologists, new media artists, and curators to redefine and frame a sustainable model for digital experimentation.

About Tezos

Tezos is an energy-efficient blockchain where developers, artists, entrepreneurs, brands, and others from around the world build and engage with a network of decentralized applications. Tezos’ modular architecture allows for seamless, community-determined upgrades that deploy new advancements to fuel the next round of innovation.

PRESS CONTACT
Eileen Skyers
Gallery Director, Feral File
eileen@feralfile.com