In the early days of TV engineers needed a way to test and calibrate the broadcast signal. This led to the creation of the test patterns. These patterns feature geometric shapes, colors bars to test for color accuracy, resolution and contrast. I grew up with test patterns and they terrified me. I would turn on the TV and run out of the room till the cartoons came on. I rediscovered them during the pandemic while looking for regimented colorful designs, just to feel a sense of grounding. They are like old friends but no longer scary, representing what TV once stood for with its limited channels and shared programming. Although they may appear as relics of the past, they mark the beginnings of technology that has led us through black and white to color, television to streaming, internet to AI. Beyond the connection to technology, test patterns serve as a metaphor for our relationship with the world. We have lost the ability to gather and watch content together, losing the sense of unity and connection that television once provided.
My approach to this series includes the presentation of the design in mixed media using sand, glitter, paint, gravel and photographs; combining the structure of the patterns with satellite photography in acrylic paint and signal disruption with ink on plastic paper.