Sonification is the act of converting data into sound. In this instance, this site documents how we can use sonification as a visual creative tool, specifically utilising the audio editing application Audacity (due to its open-source availability and ability to import images as raw data) to alter uncompressed images.
Conceptually, the process is rooted under 'glitch art' as a way of manipulating or 'glitching' data to produce distorted effects that we synonymise with computer error and malfunction. As glitch art is still a relatively young and continually developing format, glitch theorists continue to define and argue the concept of what a glitch is and how it manifests itself. In current terminology, this process of sonification is a 'glitch-alike' method of production, where the outcome is semi-sporadic and deliberately pursued by the artist to embody glitch aesthetics and generative processes. From a design perspective, sonification is an incredibly powerful resource for creating art, yet little investigation into the specifics and mechanics of its processes have been made. Whilst there is an abundance of tutorials and guides on the basics of sonifying using audacity, these often overlook any analytical criteria and focus instead on aesthetic effect, with little attention on concept or artistic integrity.
Proposed by these tutorials, results are still 'random' and therefore uncontrollable and instant; constituting to little planning and disposable art, however the intention of this site is to prove that while there is still an element of ambiguity, these mechanics can be analysed, reproduced and controlled to predict and dictate an outcome. On the one hand, this draws into question whether or not the process should truly be considered glitch-alike if it can be controlled, or if by shedding light on these processes I am cultivating them into an effect, however I argue that by exploring and documenting these effects, we can learn how to design with them, increasing creative potential for a greater, more conscious level of conceptual meaning, even beyond the association with glitch, error and malfunction. In essence this site is a free resource into sonification processes using Audacity so that artists can understand and better utilise these tools to create art.