Bad, 1979
Single-channel video, colour, sound, 2:10 minutes
Courtesy of the Artist and BERG Contemporary
In Bad, Steina explores digital image processing as a means of reorganising vision and spatial perception. Produced in 1979, the work forms part of her experiments with the Vasulkas‘ Buffer Oriented Digital Device, a system designed to control digital imaging functions, including horizontal and vertical movement, stretching, and compression.
Using her own face as visual material, Steina subjects the image to rhythmic dismantling and reconstruction. Facial features slide across the frame, expand, contract, and reassemble through programmed operations. The image remains in continuous transformation, shaped by the parameters and constraints of the digital system.