The Glitch series explores humanity's deepening dependence on technology through abstract, distorted imagery that reflects the omnipresence of data in contemporary life and the potential for catastrophic failure caused by unforeseen digital errors. Tan Mu visualizes signal disruptions and digital malfunctions, drawing inspiration from signal control systems and encoding processes. These large-scale paintings employ bold colors, fragmented forms, and layered textures to evoke the instability and chaos of data-driven systems that underpin modern communication, transportation, infrastructure, and security. The visual language mirrors digital glitch aesthetics while serving as a metaphor for the invisible mechanisms governing our digital landscape.  By highlighting both the ubiquity of data and the potential for information system collapse, the series invites viewers to confront the vulnerabilities and consequences of our overreliance on technology within critical infrastructure networks.

Glitch

In our ever-deepening entanglement with technology, it is tempting to view the world through binary contrasts: feature vs. bug, progress vs. regulation. Seen through this lens, glitches appear as irritants at best, or as disruptive faults… obstacles in the seamless flow of progress.

But what if we open ourselves to understanding glitches as something more? What if a glitch is not just an error, but an opportunity… a rupture that reveals the hidden processes beneath the surface, maybe even a moment that invites us to pause and reflect on the singular ways technology metabolizes, distorts, and generates information.

In painting, a mistake can become an opening or invitation into the presence and humanness of the maker. Our mistakes often lead to new ideas and ways of understanding the world. Could techno-glitches offer a similar invitation to new ideas and expansion?

Tan Mu’s Glitch series delves into the increasingly complex relationship between humanity and technology. Through abstract, distorted compositions, the paintings highlight both the omnipresence of data in our lives, and the fragility of our interdependence with the systems we build together. In today’s world, where communication, mobility, infrastructure, and security are shaped by invisible algorithms, our interdependence with these technologies has become a structural reality. Technology needs us and we feed technology with our experience of the organic world.

In these paintings, bold colors and jagged transitions evoke a sense of rupture and disruption. Twisted forms and blurred segments recall corrupted data, frozen frames, or collapsing signals… visual metaphors for the fragility of digital systems. Beyond aesthetic dishevelement, the works reflect a deeper uncertainty: the opacity of technological systems and the limits of human comprehension in the face of machinic logic.

Rather than simply simulate breakdown, Glitch reframes malfunction as a space for reflection on failure, on complexity, and on our entanglement with the technology we co-create. In glitches, our intimate relationship with technology momentarily reveals itself…. and in that flicker, we may glimpse not only its vulnerabilities, but our own.

Co-authors Echo and Nick Koenigsknecht

Q: The Glitch series depicts the visual effects of signal disruptions and digital malfunctions. Could you share the background and inspiration behind this series?

Tan Mu: The Glitch series grew out of my ongoing investigation into signal disruption and system failure, building upon ideas I explored in earlier works such as No Channel and No Signal. These works examine how interruptions in signal transmission affect both visual perception and the flow of information.

The origins of this series can be traced back to my time in the Expanded Media Studio Art program at Alfred University, where I studied video production and signal manipulation. In the studio, we often worked directly with signal control devices, intentionally altering screen outputs to produce abstract distortions such as color displacement, inversion, noise, and fragmentation. These experiments revealed the hidden visual language of malfunction and became foundational to my practice.

I began developing the Glitch series in late 2022, completing the first painting that year and a second in early 2023. Rather than treating glitches as errors to be corrected, I approach them as moments where underlying systems briefly reveal themselves. The series continues my interest in the aesthetic and conceptual possibilities that emerge when communication technologies break down.

Q: You mentioned the impact of signal disruptions on modern society. Could you elaborate on this idea?

Tan Mu: In contemporary society, nearly every critical system relies on uninterrupted information flow. Healthcare networks, transportation systems, financial markets, and emergency infrastructure all depend on real time data transmission. Even a brief network failure can trigger cascading consequences, from grounded flights and halted logistics to delayed medical responses.

While conceptualizing The Glitch, I read several reports forecasting large scale internet and network failures. Not long afterward, a major outage occurred in Europe, stranding travelers in airports and disrupting medical services. That event made the fragility of digital infrastructure feel immediate rather than theoretical. It underscored how deeply network dependency is woven into everyday life and how vulnerable these systems truly are.

This realization shaped the conceptual core of the series. The glitch is not simply a visual artifact of malfunction but a signal of systemic fragility. It exposes the hidden instability beneath the apparent smoothness of digital experience.

Q: How do you translate the effects of signal disruption into visual language?

Tan Mu: I translate digital malfunctions into painting through layered applications of acrylic and oil, often using masking techniques to construct fragmented color fields and abrupt transitions. These layers mimic the disjointed logic of corrupted signals and broken displays. In certain areas, I apply thick impasto to intensify the physical presence of the surface, emphasizing the density and volatility of information.

The compositions incorporate abstract gradients, sharp divisions, and disrupted linear structures. Many of these linear elements reference barcode imagery. In contemporary life, barcodes have moved beyond their original functional purpose to become symbols of invisible information systems. They quietly encode identity, value, and movement, shaping our interaction with the world while remaining largely unseen.

By embedding these visual cues into the paintings, I aim to prompt viewers to consider the fragile architecture of the networks that organize modern existence.

Q: How does this series connect to your broader artistic practice?

Tan Mu: The Glitch series is closely connected to earlier works such as No Channel, Off, and No Signal, which also address interruptions in information flow and the visual consequences of systemic failure. These moments of breakdown are no longer anomalies. They have become a recognizable part of our shared visual culture.

The series also forms a conceptual dialogue with my Signal works. While Signal focuses on the physical infrastructure of information transmission, particularly undersea cable networks, The Glitch shifts attention to how failure manifests on the screen itself. Together, these bodies of work examine both the material foundations and the visible consequences of digital networks.

Collectively, they reflect my ongoing inquiry into technological dependency and the risks embedded within it. By focusing on moments of disruption, I seek to question the perceived stability of the systems that structure contemporary life and to explore how human experience is shaped by technologies that are simultaneously powerful and fragile.