drain

A study on the confusion, anxiety, and joy that is part of the creative process. Oftentimes perception of the physical body and space is lost during the process. When the final touches are made, the artist is left to contemplate not only the finished piece, but the new state the artist is in as well. Each creation is a metamorphic event for all involved.

Created using Blender, Audacity and Processing.

Adrian "drain" Cain, USA based. Originally from Oklahoma, now living in Northwest Arkansas. Growing up queer in the midwest USA placed drain on the outskirts of normalcy. When his creative drive flared up early in his life, the creations were bizarre drawings of gangly and surreal creatures. Not finding any traditional school of art alluring, but still needing to create, it was a natural fit to take this off-center approach to digital art.

Through his inspiring collages of glitch art techniques, Adrian Cain interprets the human body’s digital aspect in re-interpreted raw and compressed formats. Driven by a passion for the unconventional, drain’s work combines vivid colors, discursive patterns, and intricate textures.Widely appreciated for his sonification finesse, he now creates multi-layered compositions involving everything that the glitch art community has to share.

Techniques include using sound editing software (Audacity) to manipulate images, hex editing and distortions made using Processing code (GLIC codec created by Tomasz Sulej @generateme_blog). This can result in surreal effects, where once identifiable forms are now something new thanks to the intrinsic qualities of the format.Utilizing Audacity as a primary tool, drain finds the balance between digital decay and artifacts, juxtaposing them with the human figure to create striking visual narratives that challenge the viewer's perception of beauty and order.

-Dina Chang