What would Playboy centerfolds from each decade look like if you saw them all at once? How do you create an image of Chicago’s Loop that represents all the years between 1848 and 2007? Can you visualize a mammalian skull that is 13% baboon, 36% bear, 46% human, and 5% wild boar? Such imaginative questions fascinate Jason Salavon, whose work inhabits the intersection of art and technology. An artist on the University of Chicago faculty, Salavon uses computer software of his own design to manipulate and reconfigure preexisting media and data to create new works of art. In this conversation with curator Hamza Walker, Salavon shows and discusses his work—and shares the high-tech secrets of its creation.
