Oblique Optics contends that studies of visual culture must account for the queerness of images. This argument posits images as queer residents within visual culture by asking how and where the queerness of images becomes visible. These questions are interrogated by utilizing queer theories and methods to refigure how the image is conceptualized within traditional approaches to visual culture studies and media studies. Each chapter offers different approaches to see the queerness of images by torquing our vision to see "obliquely," whereby images are located beyond visible surfaces (like pictures or photographs) through ec-static movements within thresholds between bodies and beings. Chapter One rethinks how images are conceptualized through metaphorical language by exploring how images emerge from fantasies about will-be-born bodies in fetal photographs. This chapter turns to figures of queer children for insight about oblique approaches to visual culture and foregrounds later engagements with aesthetics of failure. Chapter Two considers how aesthetics of failure extend to the visible forms of lacking bodies. The visibility of lack is explored by considering how pixelated vision provides alternative ways to image mastectomy scars in the film The Body Beautiful (1991) and the advertising campaign "Obsessed with Breasts." Chapter Three addresses the visible form and function of cutting within images about Michael Jackson and these images are shown cutting the body toward non-human forms of visibility. Chapter Four expands on this discussion about the non-human by contemplating how the film Air Doll (2009) reveals a visual culture of things, where we not only see things but also see how things see. Finally, Chapter Five turns to digital glitches as a visible form to explore how non-human bodies like the computer produce images beyond human-centric concerns and reveals how the digital is shown to image itself.

No description available.

The aim of this study is to examine the way vulnerability among men is discussed and negotiated in relation to their notion of masculinity during a “killmiddag” (literally: dinner for boys). It also seeks to find in what way the participants relate to each other and the group in this specific context which in itself questions gender norms. The Swedish initiative “killmiddag”, launched in 2016, comes with a set of themes and discussion guides. This study is comprised of a group interview with three participants conducted in the formula of a regular “killmiddag” and two additional interviews with men who have previous experience with arranging these events. The study finds that the participants constantly relate to gender norms and discuss how they find it awkward to show sadness and talk about complex emotions with other men. They attribute this to a learned behaviour from both their upbringings, interactions with other men and the way norms are communicated through commercial mass culture. The study concludes that the participants show increased male vulnerability and sensitivity but at the same time show signs of conforming to some of the gender norms they are criticizing. By identifying with and validating each other the participants seem to practice vulnerability in order to better fit in with the group.

Detta kandidatarbete har som syfte att belysa rollen som glitch kan spela i skapande. Jag ställer mig frågan vad som händer när vi för in ett medvetet brott i en kreativ handling, hur vi behandlar det vi uppfattar som fel eller misstag, och vad som kan hända när vi utforskar det som blivit förkastat som trasigt och obsolet. Dessa frågor har uppstått dels ur en nyfikenhet för det okända och ett ständigt sökande efter nya uttrycksformer, men även ur kritik. Den teknologiska utvecklingen min generation befinner sig i för oss allt hastigare framåt, och jag ifrågasätter hur vi förhåller oss till värdet av medietekniska artefakter när konsumtionshetsen gör sig alltmer påmind. Genom att ägna mig åt studier av glitch och konstformer som uppstått därifrån, second hand och dess kultur samt mediearkeologi har jag bildat mig en grund att stå på som sedan lett mig genom mitt gestaltningsarbete. Med ett kritiskt förhållningssätt har jag använt mig av icke-konventionella metoder och program för att redigera och manipulera media, och reflekterat över resultaten med stöd av forskning och diskussion med andra människor. Jag har utforskat digital glitch i medieformer som jag under mina tre år av studier har bekantat mig med, men även vandrat över fysiska kretskort och undersökt vad som händer när ett konkret brott introduceras i deras förväntade flöde. Resultatet har blivit ett nytt förhållningssätt till utdaterad teknik, en ny vinkel att betrakta kreativitet och skapande från och förhoppningsvis en ökad respekt för vår fortsatta tekniska utveckling. / This bachelor thesis is intended to highlight the role that glitch can have in creation. I pose the question of what happens when we introduce a deliberate disruption in a creative act? How do we treat what we perceive as flaws and mistakes, and what can happen when we explore what has once been rejected as broken and obsolete? These questions have arisen partly from the curiosity about the unknown and a constant search for new forms of expression, but also from criticism. The technological development my generation is experiencing is moving us forward at an ever increasing pace, and it leaves me inquisitive about how we relate to the value of media artifacts when consumerism is becoming more and more prevalent. By studying glitches and their resulting art forms, second-hand and its culture, as well as media archeology, I have formed a foundation on which to base my work. With a critical approach, I have used non-conventional methods and programs to edit and manipulate media, and reflected upon the results supported by both research and discussion with other people. I have explored digital glitches in media that I've worked with during my three years of study, but also traversed physical circuit boards and investigated what happens when a break is introduced in their expected flow. The result is a new approach to outdated technology, a new angle from which to view creativity and creation, and​—​hopefully​—​a shift in respect for our continued technological development.

Displacing the Familiar is a practice-based research project focused around the exploration of digital materiality. This writing is intended to give the reader an exposé of the thought process that has emerged out of my crafting and practice. It also presents shorter technical insights and examples of software used. This project takes it starting point in the joy of unpacking the digital technology. The urge to explore and understand the underlying processes that renders visuals material on the screen. How can a visual practice concerned with digital materiality work?

Med detta kandidatarbete vill jag synliggöra datorns roll i digitalt skapande. Detta genom att se till den kod som utgör digitala objekt som ett materia, och utifrån Karen Barads teorier om agentiell realism samt forskning i digital materialitet bjuda in denna digitala materia som en aktör i skapandeprocessen. Jag har strävat efter en inblick i hur digital materia framträder när den tillåts verka som en aktör, hur den tar ett uttryck och yttrar sig. Jag har engagerat mig i digital materia med diffraktion och remix som metod, vilket tillåtit mig en djupare inblick i det samt en inkluderande process där jag och materiat verkar tillsammans; i intra-aktion. I slutändan ser jag hur digital materia inte framträder ensamt, både jag och dator finns sammantrasslade i dess framträdande som ett resultat av den intra-aktion vi mötts i. Mitt ingripande i digital materia blir synligt i form av glitches, spår av digitalt förfall som ger det annars flyktiga digitala materiat mer materiella och konkreta egenskaper. Det blir även tydligt hur digital materia innebär en svårförstådd komplexitet, som framträder visuellt när det tillåts påverka denna skapandeprocess. Men jag även erhållit en medvetenhet om hur digital materia inte har ett absolut framträdande, och mitt arbete kan ses som en undersökning i hur digital materia kan framträda. / With this bachelor thesis I aim to bring to light the role of the computer in digital creative work. This is accomplished by treating the code that make up digital objects as a form of matter, and with Karen Barad’s agential realism and other research into digital materiality as a point of reference this matter is invited to the creative process as an actor. I’ve been striving for a glimpse of how digital matter comes to life when it’s allowed an active part in the creative process, to see how it expresses itself. By engaging with the digital matter through diffraction and remix as methods I’ve been given an insight into the core of it, and through the process I’ve been working alongside digital matter in intra action. Ultimately I can see how digital matter won’t appear alone, I myself and the computer are both entangled together with the digital matter as a result of the intra actions we’ve been engaging in. My intervention in digital matter becomes visible as glitches, traces of decay that give the digital matter, which can be so fleeting, more concrete and material characteristics. The unintelligible complexity of digital matter also comes to light when it’s allowed influence, as it appears visually. With this knowledge I’ve gained the awareness that digital matter does not have an absolute appearance, and this thesis can be seen as an investigation into how digital matter can appear.

Submitted by isabela.moljf@hotmail.com (isabela.moljf@hotmail.com) on 2016-08-12T13:37:22Z No. of bitstreams: 1 robertantonydoamaraloliveira.pdf: 1577784 bytes, checksum: f57955865f54475642dacfb0a5a1aa08 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-08-15T13:35:26Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 robertantonydoamaraloliveira.pdf: 1577784 bytes, checksum: f57955865f54475642dacfb0a5a1aa08 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-15T13:35:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 robertantonydoamaraloliveira.pdf: 1577784 bytes, checksum: f57955865f54475642dacfb0a5a1aa08 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-31 / Este trabalho traz questões relacionadas com a glitch music, gênero ligado à estética do erro que surgiu na década de 1990. Divido em dois pontos: no primeiro, a pesquisa parte de definições iniciais sobre o glitch e a glitch music, buscando delinear um contexto geral que o gênero se desenvolveu. Levantamos também questões conceituais sobre o “erro”, procurando apontar o uso do erro como estética na música. No segundo, mostramos três perspectivas de abordagens distintas do glitch em três compositores diferentes: Yasunao Tone, Oval e Alva Noto. Por último, o trabalho busca abrir novas discussões a respeito do que é o gênero glitch music e o que ele engloba. / This work brings questions related to glitch music, genre linked with the aesthetic of failure that arose in the 1990's. It is divided in two parts. In the first part, the research starts with definitions about glitch and glitch music, trying to outline a general context that the genre has developed. We also bring conceptual questions about "failure" trying to point out the use of error as an aesthetic in music. In the second part, we show three perspectives of different approaches of glitch in three different composers: Yasunao Tone, Oval and Alva Noto. Lastly, this work intends to open new discussions concerning what glitch music genre is, and what it includes.

This work addresses the following research question: Can we detect videogame glitches using Convolutional Neural Networks? Focusing on the most common types of glitches, texture glitches (Stretched, Lower Resolution, Missing, and Placeholder). We first systematically generate a dataset with both images with texture glitches and normal samples.  To detect the faulty images we try both Classification and Semantic Segmentation approaches, with a clear focus on the former. The best setting in classification uses a ShuffleNetV2 architecture and obtains precisions of 80.0%, 64.3%, 99.2%, and 97.0% in the respective glitch classes Stretched, Lower Resolution, Missing, and Placeholder. All of this with a low false positive rate of 6.7%. To complement this study, we also discuss how the models extrapolate to different graphical environments, which are the main sources of confusion for the model, how to estimate the confidence of the network, and ways to interpret the internal behavior of the models. / Detta projekt svarar på följande forskningsfråga: Kan man använda Convolutional Neural Networks för att upptäcka felaktiga bilder i videospel? Vi fokuserar på de vanligast förekommande grafiska defekter i videospel, felaktiga textures (sträckt, lågupplöst, saknas och platshållare). Med hjälp av en systematisk process genererar vi data med både normala och felaktiga bilder. För att hitta defekter använder vi CNN via både Classification och Semantic Segmentation, med fokus på den första metoden. Den bäst presterande Classification-modellen baseras på ShuffleNetV2 och når 80.0%, 64.3%, 99.2% och 97.0% precision på respektive sträckt-, lågupplöst-, saknas- och platshållare-buggar. Detta medan endast 6.7% av negativa datapunkter felaktigt klassifieras som positiva. Denna undersökning ser även till hur modellen generaliserar till olika grafiska miljöer, vilka de primära orsakerna till förvirring hos modellen är, hur man kan bedöma säkerheten i nätverkets prediktion och hur man bättre kan förstå modellens interna struktur.

The work I create is informed by questioning reality/identity, the fractalizing planes of existence our essence occupies, and the artifacts of memory experience navigating through space time. While existing in this realm of oversaturated media and neon glow, I question the effects of pervasive data systems overloading or programming the mental software we possess. My work includes humor as a means of exploring these conventions while also displaying psychedelic surrealist imagery to help break away from the conscious prison this existence births our concept apparatuses within.

Glitch is becoming an important topic both in popular culture and academia. In 2012, Disney cast a glitch as a major character in its movie homage to arcade video games Wreck-It Ralph. More and more studies about glitch are emerging across various disciplines, from media studies to aesthetics. So far, researchers were focusing mostly on theoretical and technological aspects of the glitch. This Master's thesis aims to analyze the "everyday" glitch and the roles it plays in the video game culture, conducting a qualitative content analysis of online discussion forums of three recent hit video games: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Mass Effect 3 and Star Wars: The Old Republic. The first part of the thesis reviews the literature connected to the glitch and explains its connection to similar scientific concepts: error, noise and emergence. It also introduces different aspects and roles of the glitch, ranging from cheating and metagaming to humor and aberrant use. The second part consists of the analysis of online discussion forums concerning the player definition of the glitch, the process of finding and sharing the glitch and about the main aspects of the glitch from the viewpoint of active participants in online discussions: glitch as an error or a feature, patching the glitch, cheating, metagaming and humor. As...