Introducing Satromizer OS from Pox Party on Vimeo.
Satromizer OS
The first iteration of the Satromizer was an Adobe After Effects 3.0 plugin written by Ben Syverson in 2001 as a response to Jon Satrom's video KOLOBOKZ. In making the video, Satrom intentionally corrupted media files harvested from the trash bins of a computer lab. Syverson's code-based reinterpretation of the video sparked an ongoing collaboration between the two artists.
In 2006, Satrom and Syverson automated a few databending techniques Satrom was employing in his glitchwares. The result was satromizer.pl, a tool for corrupting directories of data. In 2008 Syverson added mulit-touch capability to the glitch-tool and ported it to the iPhone.
The Satromizer iPhone App corrupts JPEG files specified by the user. The touch UI maps the way the file is read by the phone creating a 1 to 1 tactile relationship with the glitch. The file is corrupted directly where the user touches the image.
When asked to participate in the Funware Exhibition curated by Olga Goriunova at MU, Eindhoven, NL, 2010, and Hartware MedienKunstVerein, Dortmund, DE, 2011; Satrom and Syverson struggled with the imagery to install on the device to allow gallery viewers to Satromize. The two playfully gravitated towards inventing an alternative operating system built atop the Satromizer. Satromizer OS (or sOS) is positioned as a productivity and entertainment platform for glitch art. Currently, sOS includes a bug game, a glitchy word processor, a desktop drum machine, an MP3 sample corruptor, in addition to the legacy Satromizer.
In sOS, Satromizing is more than just mere file corruption, it's a foundational building block that can be integrated into any app. From sliders to scalers; from loaders to pre-loaders, the Satromizer building blocks are unmistakeable in Satromizer OS. Nearly everything you touch glitches before your eyes!