Encoded Icons

Part of the “Byte Patterns” series, Encoded Icons is a sequence of binary images that uses reprogrammed bitmaps to uncover a new meaning behind photographs. The series aims to highlight the concept of hidden data present beyond the top layer of visual cognition. An unknown beauty, an essence, an unrepeatable and unique pattern that once brought to light provides clues to the subconscious context of images.

The ‘skeletonization’ of the finished images produces an alphabet of pixel-wide lines that graphicizes and synthesizes the core of the subject. Thus, the works formulate a new data order along with a unique code in a quest to make sense of the array of images which constantly surround us. Searching beyond mere depiction of the visible and finding the meaning of the apparent random data. The artist explores the possibilities as well as the subtleties of this transformation process to reveal the essence of an image.

Encoded Icons achieves this goal by using photographs of some of the best known figures of our time. By recognizing the iconic personalities even at a glance, the viewer has an instant connection to the artworks. Here, the use of reprogrammed bitmaps links the familiar and unfamiliar. It’s a conceptual link between the visible facade and the usually invisible content beneath the surface.