T5 WORKSHOP WEEK 2
- Feb 22
- 2 min read
Updated: Feb 28
Last week, I was tasked with researching and experimenting with two new technologies and presenting initial tests for class feedback. My approach focused on translating my existing black-and-white self-portrait into a digitally fragmented structure. The portrait functions as an analogue baseline: a singular, centred image with tonal stability and direct gaze. Its coherence makes it an effective foundation for disruption.
Method 1: Analogue to Digital Reinterpretation
I began by taking the existing photographic portrait and reinterpreting it through the phone application Megaphoto. This involved copying, rearranging, slicing, and restructuring sections of the image rather than simply applying filters. The aim was to test how analogue material could be reorganised digitally to generate a new narrative of instability. By fragmenting and repositioning elements, I shifted the portrait from fixed representation to constructed system.
© Melanie Meggs, Displacement Studies (2026), digital prints
Method 2: Algorithmic Tessellation via MegaPhoto
I then tested tessellation using MegaPhoto. Rather than manually distorting the image, I allowed the application’s preset computational logic to reorganise the portrait into repeated geometric units. This introduced algorithmic mediation. The face became pieces, processed through an external system rather than altered by hand.
The strength of this method resides in its conceptual alignment with systemic mediation. Fragmentation operates through repetition and modular redistribution. The algorithmic logic of the application shifts the locus of control from the artist’s hand to a predefined computational system, thereby embedding the work within a broader discourse of technological authorship. However, this displacement of control also presents a limitation. The reliance on preset effects reduces precision and introduces the possibility that aesthetic novelty may supersede critical intent if not carefully framed.
The subsequent phase of development will involve assessing which methodological approach most effectively articulates psychological instability while sustaining conceptual clarity and theoretical coherence.
