Robert Spahr, Pocketful of Posies, animated gif images, 700 x 600 pixels

I am a visual artist, computer programmer, activist, and educator, who produces computational art using generative and procedural processes; digital and analog images; objects; live art and time-based media. I make art from the digital leftovers produced by the main stream media as well as the digital leftovers we create as individuals left behind on social networking sites, and scattered across the web. I write automated computer programs that collect these digital leftovers by scraping them from the web, and remixing them into a digital collage, sometimes these digital leftovers become an image, a video, or text based poetry. I call this work 'Cruft,' which is a computer hacker term defined as an unpleasant substance; excess; superfluous junk; and redundant or superseded computer code.

http://www.robertspahr.com

Thoughts on the Telephone process

Most of my art involves remixing the work of others. This source material can be the images of the main stream media, or the personal photos we leave behind on social networking sites. My automated computer programs download these images from the Internet. Remix and free culture raises questions of authorship. This type of work is closer to the building of a medieval cathedral without an architect, created as a collaborative effort over generations of builders compared to our contemporary idea of a designer of buildings.