"The function of art is to disturb. Science reassures." — Georges Braque
Spoiler for art academics: this article presents a vision of art that is quirky and provocative, far from the environments of those who take themselves too seriously. For the best experience, readers are encouraged to adopt an open and curious gaze, almost childlike.
We are now ready to enter the eccentric world of Cory Arcangel. The American artist, currently residing in Norway, also identifies as a composer, curator, writer, teacher, and aspiring YouTuber, but as we will see, this is no exaggeration. His perspective on the world is multifaceted and often surprising. Telling his story gives us the opportunity to explore a viewpoint on digital art that deserves more attention in the art scene and market.
To understand Arcangel's creativity, there is no better starting point than some of his projects. A glance at his website, coryarcangel.com, reveals his love for breaking boundaries.
In the "Things I Made" section, one title stands out for anyone who was ten in the 1980s: Space Invader. No, it is not a typo — the “S” is singular because there is only one alien: the classic video game has been modified so that only a single alien remains, instead of the full invading wave. Completing the piece is a vintage Atari cartridge, where the “S” in Invaders has been hand-erased. The hacked game is downloadable from the site, accompanied by a video showing the gameplay… so nonsensical it becomes astonishing.
At this point, many may ask: "Can something like this really be considered art?" Relax — art has only one plausible and universal definition, and unfortunately it is as contextual as it is tautological: art is what is defined as art, and history is the ultimate arbiter. That said, we must wait and see what history decides.
Consider the impact of Maurizio Cattelan’s The Ninth Hour, depicting Pope John Paul II struck by a meteorite — just one example among many throughout history that shocked the art world, from Duchamp to Hirst, Ai Weiwei to Marina Abramović. Techniques and content change, but art has always provoked, as shaking consciousness is in its nature. It draws attention, entertains, and engages.
Continuing through Arcangel’s works, his website appears as a vintage technological archive, a sort of internet archaeology that brings those who experienced the first browsers, like Mosaic or Netscape, back to a familiar past. Indeed, the history of technology increasingly intertwines with our personal memories. An old search engine or a Windows screen can awaken recollections and sensations, much like Marcel Proust’s madeleine in In Search of Lost Time.
Among the works, Insectiside (1991) stands out, connected to a musical performance with his sister, featuring noise guitar and mistreated dolls. Here, the artist’s life merges with the artwork, signaling that the Arcangel family has always been unconventional.
Then there is I Shot Andy Warhol, a provocative title introducing another modified Nintendo cartridge. In this piece, the old game Hogan’s Alley has been transformed so the player shoots Andy Warhol (instead of the bad gangsters) while avoiding hitting the Pope (replacing the innocents). Again, the work includes a vandalized cartridge and a list of prestigious exhibitions where it has been shown, notably at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. Once more, one asks: “Is this really art?” The answer is clearly yes.
Arcangel also tackled Super Mario Bros, transforming it into Totally Fucked, where Mario remains immobile on a cube, bewildered, almost frozen in time. It’s a humorous, stimulating, and nostalgic image, capable of evoking childhood memories.
The Data Diaries project collects “computer memories”: images and videos extracted from the RAM of his old computer. The result is a visual chaos that, with its nod to nerd phenomenology, recalls much of the artist’s work. There’s even an emulator for an old Macintosh system, a touching gem for vintage tech enthusiasts.
As an autobiographical portrait and testament to his creative process, Data Diaries evokes the subjectivity of the computer user. By rendering the artist’s data unreadable, the computer remains a private world, yet inseparable from the machine’s technical logic. Combining the mechanical with the cultural and personal, Data Diaries speaks for a generation of artists who have used personal computers as creative tools since childhood.
A particularly significant work is Let’s Play Majerus G3, a tribute to Michael Majerus. For this project, Arcangel retrieved the hard drive of the late Luxembourgish artist’s old laptop, reconstructing the computer’s structure and transforming it into a work of art. The project videos, available on YouTube, document not only Majerus’ creative path but also the deep connection between technology, memory, and artistic identity. Once again, digital life becomes an intimate, existential narrative — a mirror of our time and how we build relationships, artworks, and memories.
With irony and originality, Cory Arcangel confronts us with the paradoxes of the present and reminds us that even an intangible reality like pixels can provoke nostalgia and emotion. There was a time when the word Commodore evoked childhood and communal play. Today, that digital universe has generated a generation developing artificial intelligences capable of curing diseases or mowing lawns.
Time will tell… ad astra per aspera.
