Shadow, Glare, 2010/2013 by Erin Shirreff

by Erin Shirreff
Desktop application for Intel-based Macintosh computer
Edition of 4 with 2 artist proofs
Published by Triple Canopy

For more information, please write to jisu@canopycanopycanopy.com.

Shadow, Glare is a desktop application inspired by those moments when the screen’s material presence becomes impossible to ignore, when dust accumulations, errant smudges, and the movement of shadows and glares disturb the illusion of transparency. Shadow, Glare explores such experiential disruptions through a subtle visual intervention: Without altering the computer’s normal operations, the program renders a morphing series of translucent forms that seem to float between the screen’s real surface and the immaterial desktop. This simulation can blend unobtrusively with any actual shadows that happen to be cast on the screen, but the slowly evolving forms can also occlude the desktop and interrupt the user’s focus. Shadow, Glare brings into focus the complex negotiation between real and virtual space that we enter into, often unthinkingly, every time the screen lights up. Shadow, Glare was first published in issue nine of Triple Canopy.

Erin Shirreff is an artist based in New York City.