The multi-colored, abstract result of running a custom C++ program, rendering composite portraits of Eric Corriel‘s personal computer, are on display at an exhibition, “Enter the Machine.” Opening tonight, 27 January, at Garis & Hahn, viewers are invited to experience personal data.

Using custom software and displayed in synchronized pulsating light boxes, Corriel takes an ordinary computer hard drive and turns it inside-out, making its contents visible to the human eye. In his second solo exhibition with the gallery, Corriel raises questions about the digitization of contemporary society and creates a body of work that explores humanity’s dance with technology.

The Internet and the concomitant uploading of the most intimate parts of our personal lives is an accepted and near-requisite aspect of modern existence. Corriel posits that new and better tools are required to fully understand the implications of leading such digitally-oriented lives. This engenders the question: What other tools do we have to make sense of the storage of our personal data? If we could somehow meet our digital files face-to-face, what would they look like? Enter the Machine explores these ideas by giving a visual face to the unseen nature of our stored lives.

Corriel’s exploration of shifting perspectives was also showcased at the DUMBO Arts Festival with his view of urban landscapes. “Citysphere explodes into viewers’ consciousnesses with innate kaleidoscopic beauty. “Let’s say for argument’s sake that you believe the veins of an ordinary leaf or the crystalline structure of a snowflake can be said to be beautiful,” Corriel told The Creators Project via email. “If that’s true, then maybe one way to reveal an object’s beauty is to zoom in and focus on its underlying structure. Could that same principle be applied to the urban environment to reveal its underlying beauty?” – Creator’s Project

As the lead web designer and developer for the School of Visual Arts, Corriel is both an artist and programmer. His work is recognized by organizations like the New York Foundation of the Arts, New York Council of the Arts, and the Public Art Network.