«Anatomy of non-fact» is an art/research project about mis- and over-information in the context of the looming threat of post-optical images. The work seeks a definition of the aesthetics of fact, via an in-depth analysis of visual hoaxes, fakes and conspiracies, through visual mapping and artistic responses. The «Anatomy» reveals connections between case-studies and wider visual languages, media cultures, tools and events, while outlining speculative futures of visual fact. While photographic realism is largely understood as the only reliable visual evidence, can the interrogation of post-optical (synthetic) imagery resolve the mounting tension between faith and truth? Is the aesthetic of fact a material quality or is it ‘in the eye of the beholder’?
Informed by a critique of political structures, research on systemic violence and their visual strategies, Martyna's practice bridges aesthetics, media theory, and legal imaginaries. She traces how power inscribes itself through image regimes and visual narration infrastructures. Her work engages in a form of pataforensics—poking at the tropes of scientific and forensic aesthetics, revealing their absurdities, contradictions, and the risks of mistaking them for truth. By writing visual counterhistories, Martyna tries to smuggle in other ways of seeing.
Martyna's work has been shown by Onassis Stegi, Copenhagen Contemporary, Ars Electronica, Galerie Stadt Sindelfingen, Warsaw Biennale and LABoral Centro de Arte, among others. I am currently the Arts at Cern, Collide Resident. In 2025 she has been awarded the Award of Distinction Prix Ars Electronica, Artificial Life and Intelligence category.
Artist:
Martyna Marciniak
Year:
2024
Type:
Film
Duration:
18 min
Website:
martyna.digital
