Vuk Ćosić

1966, Belgrade, lives in Ljubljana

Matrix from the ASCII Series, 1996–2001

The work of Vuk Ćosić is essentially connected to the world of digital technologies and communication networks. He is, however, not merely interested in the new possibilities offered by these technologies and their social consequences. The so-called “new technologies” already have a history of their own. We can speak about historical or even archaic hardware and software, which can, as with other historical relicts, gain a particular documentary, emotional and even poetic value. Another aspect that Ćosić’s work refers to is the fact that, as a consequence of these technologies, specific digital and net sub-cultures with particular structures, value systems and ways of communication have developed. All these issues are reflected in Ćosić’s concept of “low-tech art”. For example, he often uses ASCII graphics as a visual and technical relic from the history of computer technologies, nowadays part of hacker folklore. The ASCII projects are thus part of his reflection on society’s reception of technological development. One of his ASCII strategies is transformation of the icons of modern mass culture, such as cult movies, into ASCII graphics; his project is an ASCII gallery of essential scenes from famous films.