Low-Res Aesthetics

Try to envision virtual reality in its ultimate incarnation. Conceivably, it’s only a matter of time before bleeding-edge hardware advances to an extent that this ultimate VR becomes indistinguishable from the “reality” we presently inhabit. Beyond mere high-resolution imaging and high-fidelity acoustics, this system will likely also faithfully represent the senses of scent, taste, and touch. Advanced add-on software will perform complex physical computations with ease, rendering the unique materiality of a wholly virtual world. Perhaps with a single keystroke, one future artist will have the honor of being the first to login to this virtual world, thereby heralding a new era in virtual art in one liminal moment.

In time immemorial, man discovered fire. Molding dirt in their bare hands, our ancestors then fired vessels in ancient kilns. How is the future artist different from his primeval predecessor?

The difference is resolution. Virtual reality exists in such clear focus that it may be indistinguishable from “reality” at first glance. However, it can never supplant reality, itself. VR amounts to nothing more than a close approximation, generated from those limited resources and technologies available in the real realm.

“Essentially, virtuality constitutes those basic elements that impart a feeling of the real. In a virtual framework, it’s sufficient that the experience simply approximate reality. If it feels real, then it’s as good as real. In other words, the virtual experience is not quite the same as reality, yet fulfills the same function. Thus, the onus of VR research is this search for the essence of reality.”
Source: Transcranial Electric Stimulation, Gravity, Sight, Scent, and “Authentic” VR Worlds (Japanese)

This resolution differential seems to have underscored art history, serving as an eternal, insurmountable chasm evident as early as the cave paintings at Lascaux. Irrespective of medium, sensitive artists have challenged their insensitive societies by sadistically (or masochistically) seeking to close this gap between medium and reality.

The low-res aesthetic suits photography. After all, cameras serve to capture reality in diluted resolution. This will remain a perpetual theme confronting photography, no matter how many pixels cameras offer in the future. Digital cameras utilize bitmapping to manage a photographic subject, and as such, clearly belie an inherent grid-based texture.

The camera illustrates a metaphor for the brain. As the vessel responsible for thought, the brain itself may also be the human body’s tool for diluting reality into a more manageably low resolution. For example, try and picture the final digit of pi. Everyone knows the formula to calculate pi, but can you readily envision the sequence’s terminal number? No? Take solace, as even the most sophisticated computer is in the same position as you. The answer exists in the ether. A tangible intangible, we can theoretically calculate pi to infinity. However, we will never arrive at a definitive conclusion by adhering to the aforementioned linear grid. We can only provide an approximation, a substitute.

“When data is quantified, it is typically expressed as integers (numerical digits). For example, consider a steep staircase. Each step along the staircase is discretely defined: in this metaphor, each step is akin to the digital. However, motion along the in-between incline represents the analog. The difference is between expressing this information in either integers or real numbers. Digital processes express data as discrete, discontinuous values that amalgamate any slight intermediate discrepancies.”Source: Japanese Wikipedia, “Digital”

Unadulterated, indivisible, high-resolution reality is located within the vast expanse outside the boundaries of thought. Our corporeal bodies occupy and belong to this “real” space. Perhaps this frontier offers another aesthetic predating quantization in the form of grid-transcending beauty, just as reality exists before the camera’s lens.

(Translated by Daniel Jacob González)