Obstacle 1 is part of the Digital Patina collection by Jaap Drupsteen. The collection brings together the results of a quest for picturesque values in the digital domain.

Drupsteen approaches his digital pieces with a focus on mark-making and the intention to work in a way comparable to working a stain into a drawing. His approach foregrounds serendipity and intuition; works are composed through an exploratory and open production process, avoiding precooked instructions in the software. This approach embraces the loss of control and the discovery of unexpected and unimaginable images and perspectives.

The works in this collection are built from stacks of layers that influence each other in many different ways, through varied and complex movements and effects.

In the process of choosing and optimizing the best results from the many manipulations, the lowest layers and their original intentions may become overwhelmed. Hence Drupsteen chose to make a hole down to the lower layers. In some cases, the rhythms of the lower layers are still pounding. Meanwhile, the hole through the layers continues to be affected by the large movements of the top layer that, conversely, seems to be disturbed by this hole as if it were an obstacle.

By composing these pieces, Drupsteen explores complex interactions in digital mark-making; the tensions and harmonies which arise from intuitive interweaving of moving image and sound. Through this interweaving, temporal interactions come to the fore - the present can’t evoke the past without displacement and distortion.