Viral Attacks: The
Work of Joseph Nechvatal
by Seth Thompson
While some artists seek precision and control with their work, Joseph Nechvatal unleashes a virus on his computer-based imagery as part of his philosophical approach to making art. His work embodies both biological and technological elements drawing metaphors between the two. While his production utilizes a similar set of rules as the Abstract Expressionists whose aesthetics are built upon a collection of defined parameters and who are more concerned with process, Nechvatal deviates when he lets his computer virus program influence the outcome of the image. Sometimes beautiful and at other times disconcerting, his work engages and challenges the viewer to go beyond the surface.
Nechvatal received
his Ph.D. in the Philosophy of Art at the Centre for Advanced Inquiry in the
Interactive Arts, The University of Wales in 1999. However, since 1986 he has
incorporated the use of computers and computer-robotics into his work.
An example of an
early work is Hyper-Body II (1988), an emotionally charged large scale
work that utilizes a dominant blue monochromatic-like color scheme, where after
close observation one can make out a weakened form with its head and shoulders
slouched. During this time of production, Nechvatal had known many people who
were inflicted with the AIDS virus. In an email interview with this author,
Nechvatal writes, ÒThe AIDS virus was impacting on me emotionally at the time,
so it made sense to move in that direction. I wanted to overcome the fear I was
feeling and mark the impossibility of going further in the direction of
complete spontaneous sexual freedom.Ó(1)
From 1991 to 1993,
Nechvatal was as an artist-in-residence at the Louis Pasteur Atelier and the
Saline Royale/Ledoux FoundationÕs computer lab in Arbois France where he
developed the Computer Virus Project with the assistance of Jean-Philippe
Massonie. In an email interview with Tom Barbalet for Biota.org, Nechvatal
writes, ÒAt that time I would launch a viral attack into the hostÑwhich was my
body of visual work accomplished up to that time. However there was nothing to
see as the computer virus went through its procedures until I would check to
what had happened overnight.Ó(2) It wasnÕt until 2002 when he began collaborating
with StŽphane Sikora, that he began to see the viral results in real time. In
an email interview, he writes, Òwe launched into a collaboration intended on
extending my previous exploration with computer software modeled on the viral.
Instead of waiting to see what had happened in the computer overnight, as with
the Jean-Philippe Massonie software, I could see what was occurring in real
time on the screen. That was a major advance.Ó(3)
VOluptuary drOid
dŽcOlletage
(2002) is an example of a viral attacked computer-based image ÒpaintedÓ onto a
large canvas. The piece, which utilizes a bright and colorful palette, is
divided into three parts that has been morphed or transformed by the viral
attack. A yellow band looks as though it is in the process of smothering or
transforming the central part of the image that depicts a collection of
close-up views of microscopic organisms. The right part of the canvas features
the backside of a rubenesque nude woman laying face down. The multilayered
pixilated imagery abstracts the form. Semi-transparent code is layered on top
of the woman. Overall, the technological virus looks as though it has been
eating away at the images transforming and manipulating the once possibly
crisp-like images. Nechvatal writes, ÒI think that the life/non-life idea
inherent in the viral situation is mesmerizing. Most all viruses have the same
general behavior characteristics (a virus invades the host and draws existence
from it; wildly reproducing itself, thus killing the host) and I designed my
computer virus to follow those characteristics.Ó(4)
AndrOpathOlOgynite
cOntagio,
(2003) is a beautiful and colorful diptych. Yet upon closer examination, the
beautiful work becomes disturbing. On the upper part of the canvas are two
large egg-like objects depicted in a painterly fashion. On the bottom half a
multilayered collage of imagery includes what appears to be a womanÕs mid-area
from the bottom of her rib cage to the top of her pelvic region with the tips
of her knees are slightly exposed. On top of this base image are translucent
and repeated medical drawings of the female reproductive system. Nevertheless,
the elements look as though viral organisms are eating away at the
imageryÑconsuming or ingesting the womanÕs reproductive biological matterÑconnotating
cancer or some other disease.
NechvatalÕs Computer
Virus Project 2.0 (Portrait Attack Series) (2005) is a
time-based immersive environment where the viewer is surrounded by large-scale
projections of portraits on all four walls. At times the disconcerting sound
within the installation becomes loud and overwhelming which mixes well with the
imagery. The projected moving imagery is being constructed and deconstructed in
conjunction with the sound by the computer-based virus, so it is an ever-evolving
piece with no beginning, middle or end.
The participant watches virus-like elements slowly eating away at the
multilayered portraits of such Ònew mediaÓ notables as Cory Arcangel, Tina
LaPorta, Mark Tribe and G.H. Hovagimyan. Nechvatal writes, ÒThe emotional punch
of seeing the virus gnawing away at the faces of prominent people in the cyber
arena was impossible to resist.Ó(5)
NechvatalÕs work
offers much more than simply drawing a parallel between a computer and
biological virus. His work is the sign of the times. We live in a time of AIDS,
cancer, war, and computer viruses that are inflicting our cultural and
biological sanctity. NechtavalÕs body of work abstractly and philosophically
addresses these issues as we search for a remedy.
SETH THOMPSON is an
educator, media artist, and writer based in Akron, Ohio. He can be reached at seththompson@wigged.net.
NOTES
1. Author email
interview with Joseph Nechvatal, April 2006.
2. Barbalet, Tom.
Joseph Nechvatal Interview. January 2006. http://www.biota.org/people/josephnechvatal/
3. Author email
interview with Joseph Nechvatal, April 2006.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid
