DIGITAL ART ON THE ROOF

In the opening scene of the play The fiddler on the roof, the lead character says: '...you might say every one of us is a fiddler on the roof, trying to scratch out a pleasant, simple tune without breaking his neck...'. Believe me, as a Brazilian Neuroscientist and University Professor, I know the feeling...

And I do enjoy life at large, therefore I embraced lockdown to avoid being dragged by the COVID-19 pandemic. Movies, plays, bookshop browsing, dining out were replaced by other kinds of entertainment. On the professional side, laboratory experiments halted for quite a while, all but burying my chances to either witness or exercise creative work for many months. Notwithstanding, my routine of remote classes, meetings, data analysis, reading and writing articles with the use of laptop, tablet or smartphone, made a compelling case for taking digital art as a hobby. What do you know, it turned into a habit.

Each panel in this book was created by stacking randomly chosen photographs, which were deliberately mischaracterized by both variable levels of transparency as well as manipulation of contrast, exposure, saturation, sharpness and other qualities. Stacks were grown till I found myself satisfied with the abstract, chaotic result. By the way, yes, pixels were heartily welcome, why bother? The process looks simple, but absolutely personal.

Hanging out on my own proverbial roof, I see the collection as an uplifting escape from any threats capable to plunge our planet into chaos. I hope the pictures help entice your imagination. Feel free to interpret whatever you see.

Cheers

Rafael Linden, MD, PhD

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, January 2022