In this body of work, Colin explores the complexities of truth, perception, and the media through the lens of vibrant color theory and digital distortion. Spanning from January 2017 to January 2021, he engaged in an intimate, yet tumultuous dialogue with the New York Times—the paper of record and a long-standing symbol of trusted journalism. Each work in this series begins with the front page of the New York Times, which is then subjected to a series of digital distortions. Using techniques like moving the paper across a scanner or manipulating it through scripted interventions in Processing or Photoshop, Colin bends the boundaries of clarity and legibility, generating images that are at once familiar and unsettling.

This process of distortion, where the original form is both present and fragmented, speaks to the increasingly disorienting landscape of modern media. With color acting as both a tool of reinvention and a metaphor for the distortion of truth, Colin employs color theory not only to invigorate the imagery but to complicate our understanding of what we see. The works teeter on the edge of chaos—visually arresting, yet hard to fully digest. They beckon the viewer to linger, despite the vertigo they invoke, confronting the dissonance between what is presented and the reality it attempts to reflect.

In an era when truth has become a contested ground, these pieces ask an uncomfortable question: When journalists, once seen as guardians of integrity, simply report events in an environment rife with misinformation, do they inadvertently become complicit in distorting the truth? Through the manipulation of a singular, authoritative source, Colin evokes the complexity of this dilemma—where every distortion mirrors the broader uncertainties and contradictions embedded within our media-driven society. The result is a body of work that is as much about the fragility of truth as it is about the raw power of color, form, and digital manipulation.

“From January 2017-January 2021, I took the front page of the New York Times and distorted it digitally, either by moving it in a scanner, or through scripted distortions in Processing or Photoshop. As the paper of record (and an avatar of “media” in general), the NYT has been a trusted source of journalism for decades. In recent years, truth is not a matter of record. Do honest journalists striving for integrity become complicit in corrupting the truth by simply reporting events? Things become vertiginous and disorienting, somehow familiar, somewhat legible, but fragmented, beguiling nonsense, both hard to look at and hard to look away from.” — artist Colin Strohm