Reenacting Scan Processing Instruments

Abstract

Scan processing is an analog computer technology developed in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. While it was initially conceived as a method for animating still images, its core operation is the manipulation of video frame scan lines. This real time work flow encouraged radical, surreal, and sometimes grotesque transformations of live video imagery, and encouraged the use of scan processors as instruments with which to compose and play moving images. Although cheaper digital tools replaced scan processors in commercial animation studios during the 1980s, scan processing has a distinctive aesthetic that continues to inspire both visual artists and instrument designers. This presentation will examine the specific affordances provided by historical scan processing technology, including the ability to directly influence images through the use of audio signals, and will discuss contemporary reenactments of these instruments using digital audio and video technology.