Matthew Biederman’s Guided Saccade is an abstract artwork created using generative software techniques. The work prompts particular physiological responses by constantly evading resolution. In doing so, it explores how movement of the human eye relates to our perception of image and colour. A complex patchwork of interlocking geometric forms of different colours animates constantly without forming a recognisable pattern. The endless colour combinations produced causes the viewer to constantly scan and adjust to the work as new iterations and configurations unfold, produced using computational processes.
The title refers to the term ‘saccade’, used to describe the rapid movement or flickering of the eye from one perceived point to another. One of the quickest movements in the human body, saccades cannot be controlled and are the result of the eye and brain working to process and resolve complex images efficiently. In presenting an image which guides the physiological responses of the viewer, the work extends abstraction from the screen to the body and brings the body overtly into contact with codes and the images produced by codes.