An algorithm has been used to re-order the pixels of a photograph from the Unite the Right rally that occurred in Charlottesville, USA 11 August 2017. The simple rules of the code repeatedly re-orders the pixels without copying over, erasing or deleting to create complex behaviour that results in a ‘digital sands of time effect’, metaphorically suggesting a repetition of history, blurring a space to question histories.

The Unite the Right rally was a white supremacist protest ostensibly about the removal of Confederate monuments throughout the US in response to the Charleston church mass shooting that murdered 9 African Americans. The rally included far-right, alt-right, neo-Confederates, neo-Fascists, white Nationalists, neo-Nazies, Klansmen and various right-wing militias. The event turned violent after clashes with counter protestors that culminated in a self-identified white supremacist ramming his car into counter-protesters killing Heather Heyer and injuring 19 others. Initially President Trump did not denounce the white supremacists and controversially equivocated the 2 sides by saying there was ‘very fine people on both sides’.