Nyx

Kate Ward and John Kennedy​

Nyx  is inspired by the lack of order and gradual decline into disorder that is created from repeatedly opening, saving and closing a digital file. Each time the file loses a fraction of information, becoming slightly distorted, slowly transitioning and disconnecting from its origin. The loss of quality between subsequent copies or transcodes of data ironically results in an increase in file size, as the introduction of artifacts may actually increase the data through each generation. Moving from order to disorder continuously copying the digital file loses its logical, methodical order of data. Memory becomes fragmented in the process. Reflecting the natural laws of the universe, the digital file decays and falls apart, moving towards oblivion.

Nyx connects the loss of memory in a digital file to that of human memory. We as humans store our memories in digital archives as a way of preserving time – yet digital storage is not always that reliable or effective. As we increasingly rely of digital technology we transition from the physical to the metaphysical. Today, museums display their artefacts on screens and we no longer have the physical object as reference. The artefacts themselves are becoming obsolete as they are replaced by a digital representation. 

We enter a world where everything is an illusion and the object no longer exists...

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October 2019
Sydney NS