Turbulence Spotlight: Corrupt™ - data corruption software by Benjamin Gaulon (aka Recyclism):

Corrupt™ was originally built with Proce55ing. This PHP version has been realised in collaboration with BlueMelon. The corruption process starts by reading the binary of an image file [JPG or GIF]; then some bytes are randomly swapped. The file is then “saved as” a new document. Depending on the number of replacements and the original compression, the image will have a completely different and unpredictable aesthetics. Thus, from a single image the program can generate millions of corrupted versions. And because it is a real corruption system that damages the binaries of a file, some of the results can’t be showed because they are too damaged.

Benjamin Gaulon aka Recyclism is a researcher, artist and has a broad experience of acting as art consultant, public and conference speaker, graphic designer and art college lecturer. He is currently leading Data 2.0 (Dublin Art and Technology Association), he co-founded the Irish Museum of Contemporary Art in 2007 and is lecturer at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin in the Fine Art Media Department for the MA Art in the Digital World in Dublin.

Artist Statement: The Rubbish is what is lost after using a material. It’s also a product without any value. It’s something that we don’t know how to use or what to do with, a resource that waits for a use or can’t be used because of a technological gap. The rubbish is connected to the idea of property, or to be more precise it’s an object without any owner, so when something is trashed it becomes public property.

My research seek to establish an inter-disciplinary practice and collaborations by creating bridges between art, science and activism, and by doing so, shifting the boundaries between art, engineering and sustainable strategies.

Also see: Ben’s 2004 Turbulence Spotlight, digital®e©y©ling and The Works of Benjamin Gaulon by Arie Altena.