Glitchcraft

Bewitched by neologistics, I turn to my dictionary because it is chock full of spells. I wanted to explore the trajectories (real and imagined) latent in 'glitch'. Beyond slippage which is the essence of glitch...I want to slide further afield, to probe the alledged associations with the US space program.

Glitchcraft is crafty for all its possible lines of flight. A neologism hovering betwixt 'n' between meanings, a proto-theory object with trails of attention glimpsed in a simple google search. Despite some alluring leads from google, I will attempt to lead glitchcraft further astray. The gremlin, if we recall (how could we forget?) is a mischievious cryptid infamous for erring aeroplanes in WWII. Today the gremlin can be retrofit with the title of blobsquatch in the expanded field. The gremlin is adept at crafting glitches for all manner of vehicle or vessel used for transportation. In other words, the gremlin is good at glitching craft--aircraft, spacecraft, timecraft. Timecraft being a time machine in the sci-fi sense, or time-machine in the VCR sense. Time-based art inherently involves travelling through time. Circuit-bending, or blobsquatchery in the expanded field, is timecraft but also a means of transforming everyday electronics into glitchcraft. Vessels for exploring new worlds. Or, an art of the creative short-circuit. And a process associated with wizardry and witches. Glitches as familiars ready at the glitchcrafter's side. A muse, a spirit for further beglitching.

Relatedly, "This fall...An underground ring of superconducting magnets, reaching from Switzerland into France, will smash together subatomic particles at incredible force. Physicists say they're not sure what will emerge from those collisions. They're hunting a mysterious, hypothetical particle called the Higgs boson. It is also possible they will make miniature black holes, or discover new dimensions of space-time." (Morning Edition, 4/9/07 )