Marpat

Type-C photograph from lo res iPhone image


The pattern of the wire mesh in the photo of the serpent
was similar to the pattern of the scales on the snake’s skin.
The title of the photo “Marpat” suggests the connection between
the two patterns. Marpat is short for “Marine patterning”—
a multi-scale camouflage pattern formed of rectangular
pixels of color that is also known as “digital camou.” The
pattern match between the wire mesh and the snake’s skin
in the image were indeed so close that at first, I thought the
image must have been modified. Because the resolution was
so high and the colors of the print so bright, the image took
on an almost three-dimensional character. As I looked at the
image, it was impossible for me to distinguish what was
“real” and what was the product of a digital process. The
ambiguity in the image highlighted one of the themes of the
exhibition as a whole: is there ultimately any difference between
a serpent in the garden and our invention of a serpent in the garden? The serpent, like climate change, remains regardless
of whether or not we created it.


Scott Rettberg,  Cognitive Assemblages in Ecological / Digital Art