Sue Beyer | Visual artist

SUE BEYER \\ VISUAL ARTIST
DIGITAL COMBINES . WE ARE DATA . XANADU . PAINTING . OTHER . CURATION

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Published peer reviewed essays

Beyer, S 2023, ‘ Metamodern Spell Casting: The Blockchain as a Conceptual Medium for Contemporary Visual Artists ’, M/C Journal, vol. 26. no. 5 https://doi.org/10.5204/mcj.2999

Beyer, S 2022, ‘Digital Combines: A Metamodern Oscillation of Oppositional Objects and Concepts in Contemporary Interdisciplinary Art Practice’, International Journal of Contemporary Humanities, vol. 6. ISSN: 2207-2837

2020 // AMENDED THESIS ABSTRACT
My current work examines how digital technology affects liminal space or the in-between. Condensing the meaning of liminal space to its essence — that of transformation, existing digital artifacts are used as a medium and starting point for the process.

Instances of liminal space have increased exponentially as a result of the enthusiastic uptake of digital technologies like personal computers and smart phones. The use of binary code, the very basis of computing, essentially transforms data from one form to another. This constant transformation creates multiple instances of liminal space.

Using programming, microprocessors and electronics, existing digital files are initially transformed using instruction. Raw data is altered to create glitches that reveal the materiality of the digital file. During the transformation process the liminal space is laid bare, poised on a threshold between one state and another.

The use of digital technologies as part of the process when making these works introduces a collaboration in the making of the work. In some instances algorithms were applied to introduce an element of chance to the making. This action takes absolute control away from the artist and created collaborations between the program and the artist.

Examining this topic has led the research to determine that the process of making this work is central to the idea of liminal space and is just as important as the visual outcome. This idea is similar to ideas put forward by artists like Sol LeWitt that use instruction as a basis for their art making and Laura Owens who questions where a painting is, rather than what is a painting.