Gallery: This Artist's Images Integrate Code From Malware Like Stuxnet and Flame
James Hoff. Courtesy of the artist and Callicoon Fine Arts, NY.01JH057
Artist James Hoff's latest series, Skywiper, integrates code from government-created malware. This one uses data from the NSA-created software Stuxnet.
James Hoff. Courtesy of the artist and Callicoon Fine Arts, NY.02JH063
Other images in the series like this one use code from the NSA-created spyware tool Flame, also known as Skywiper, a name Hoff has also used for the image series.
James Hoff. Courtesy of the artist and Callicoon Fine Arts, NY.03JH069
Hoff's method involves reducing a pre-created image to text with a hex editor and then "corrupting" the file with random chunks of malware code.
James Hoff. Courtesy of the artist and Callicoon Fine Arts, NY.04JH062
When he reconstituted the image including the malware "glitches," they included static, streaks and blotches of color.
James Hoff. Courtesy of the artist and Callicoon Fine Arts, NY.05JH060
Hoff says he's more interested in the uncontrollable effects of adding virus code into his art than in the political aspect of government-sponsored cyberwarfare creations like Stuxnet, whose code this image uses.
James Hoff. Courtesy of the artist and Callicoon Fine Arts, NY.06JH064
“I don’t think of viruses as good or bad. To me, they’re just agents,” he says. “I just want to pull that element into the work. It allows for that kind of reflection, both on a conceptual level and an aesthetics level. The actual code is embedded in the image you see.”
