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# Making a Film the Source of Its Own Failure
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/making-a-film-the-source-of-its-own-failure/
- Published: 2013-08-28T20:17:14.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:34:48.000Z
- Description: JK Keller's "Gleaning the Fifth Screen, Minority Report (screen test)" (2012) was created when he wondered if there was a way to have the film be the source of its own failure or glitch.
- Author: Hrag Vartanian
- Tags: Opinion, Steven Spielberg, Videodrome, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 06:59 (2012, 2013, part 2)

[JK Keller](http://jk-keller.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com)‘s “Gleaning the Fifth Screen, Minority Report (screen test)” (2012) was created when the artist wondered if there was a way to have the film be the source of its own failure or glitch.

Originally created for the [*Hashfail*](http://openfile.org.uk/events/open-file-3/hashfail/?ref=hyperallergic.com) exhibition last year in Birmingham, UK, which explored the distribution of production of virtual and digital platforms, Keller’s video evolves into an spiky abstract screens that shields the cinematic action from the viewer.

A “hashfail,” if you’re curious, occurs when seeded files become corrupted and cannot be transmitted properly. As the curatorial statement explains, “Numerous Hashfails lead to the loss of quality and gradual decomposition of a file, shifting it ever-further from its origin, subjecting it to a new type of physicality and texturing.”

For Keller’s artistic contribution to the show, he chose a film that he wanted to be the source of its own failure or glitch. Created at the time he was doing his [*iPhone Oil Paintings*](https://hyperallergic.com/iphone-oil-paintings-j-k-keller/) series, he was very interested in the role of touch interfaces and there was no more seminal mainstream film in the field than Steven Spielberg’s [*Minority Report*](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minority%5FReport%5F%28film%29?ref=hyperallergic.com)(2002).

“I tracked every frame where the LED light gloves in the fictional interface were used and added a simple smear effect to the film that was persistent through the rest of the movie. I even made the tracking point data available on [github](https://github.com/jk-keller/Gleaning-the-Fifth-Screen?ref=hyperallergic.com) in case anyone else wants to do something based off the interface gestures … So, it’s not so much about the aspect of ‘touch in film’ but about transposing IRL consequences into a fictional setting. Kind of a silly ‘butterfly effect,'” he explains.