Data on computers is sometimes thought of as, "streams".
You'd open a file much like you'd pour water into a glass. *
Disrupting this stream of data gives interesting results. To me, it's similar to what happens when a DJ speeds up, or slows down a record using their hands.
There are several ways to work with data on your computer in ways not expected by the developers of the software. This is usually known as, "Breaking the API" and such breakage can lead to what is known as, "Corruption".
Corruption has negative connotations. Not doing what you're told is an act of dissidence that, at frenzied times in history, is said to lead to a complete breakdown of society (anarchy).
Computers, like political organizations have safegaurds against such attempts. For a computer, a integrity check can be performed on a file, before it is read into a program. A corrupt file, when used can lead to more corruption, as the file interacts with other files via the file system - much like a cancerous cell.
Political organizations check the integrity of their citizens by making sure they follow closely a set of rules known as, "Laws". These laws aren't something the political organizations themselves have to follow. This creates a neat back door to, "make disappear " anything and anyone that is against the view of this organization.
For these images, the trick is to control the visual affect of the corruption, without having the detrimental affects of the physical corruption itself: keep the message, get rid of the corruption itself. It's far simpler than it sounds.
* Even though I've programmed for 8+ years, I probably don't know what I'm talking about. One does not need to know computer science to write computer programs. One does not need to know what one is talking about to write about art. That's why I like art.
