RGB Alchemy

 

This work explores the malleability of the digital medium through a technique reminiscent of alchemy and applied to imagery and sound. Alchemy is said to be the quintessential science of turning the poorest material into noble ones, such as the famous and yet-to-be proven transmutation of lead into gold. This manipulation of chemical elements, achieved through complex esoteric maneuvers, inspired alchemists from ancient cultures into believing that everything could be transformed into something else. The ultimate goal leads to the discovery of eternal life through the transformation of the mind: the Magnum Opus of science.

By emulating this obscure practice, this project modernizes the process by using the most present element of the present time as its Prima Materia: the digital code. Inspired by the transmutation process, my goal here is to understand how the code, although immaterial, is an object that can be bent, deconstructed and rebuilt at will in order to achieve a new form of representation. To do so, I altered images and photos of simple objects using a sound editing software in order to change the nature of the code. Ultimately, the data was reverted back into a completely new image, shifting its previously defined nature as an object. As for the resulting noise, it echoes the turmoil behind the creation of the unknown.