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An abstract digital image in green and black, created with a dense halftone dot pattern. Swirling, organic shapes overlap to create a textured, distorted effect.

Art: Alex Trochut's Binary Prints look completely different in the dark

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Date
10 June 2013

Barcelona-based creative powerhouse Alex Trochut has turned his talents to illustration, design and typography in his time, but now he’s decided to mess with our minds. Having become interested in the duality that can be represented in one-dimensional art forms, he developed a print-making technique where two separate images can be seen in the same picture depending on whether it’s viewed in the light or the dark. And so Binary Prints was born, a series of portraits of some the biggest electro musicians and producers working today. Neatly of course content mirrors form here, raising questions about how public figures project their creative identities to the world.

“These nocturnal portraits ‘wake up’ in the dark, just as the DJs come alive at night, as do audiences under the spell of their music,” Alex says. “Anyone who has been present at those transcendental moments of communion at a show can attest to the experience as an awakening – a nighttime rebirth of mind and body. There is a literal translation of the inverted blinking eye, which shows the artists emerging into their nocturnal personas, bringing them into focus, from a anonymous being to an icon of music and sound.”

A halftone print of a person’s face with their eyes closed. The image is composed of a dense grid of small dots, with the word “Carigou” printed in small capitals at the bottom.
Above

Alex Trochut: Binary Prints – Caribou (Day)

A green halftone illustration of a person’s face, partially obscured by the silhouettes of tropical leaves. The word “Caribou” is written in small white capitals at the bottom.
Above

Alex Trochut: Binary Prints – Caribou (Night)

A halftone print of a person’s face with their eyes closed. Small text at the bottom reads “FOUR TET”.
Above

Alex Trochut: Binary Prints – Fourtet (Day)

A green halftone portrait of the musician Four Tet against a black background. A distorted, fragmented pattern overlays the left side of their face. The words “FOUR TET” appear in small white capitals at the bottom.
Above

Alex Trochut: Binary Prints – Fourtet (Night)

A halftone print of a person wearing a wide-brimmed hat, their face partially shaded. The word “Lazarus” is handwritten in the bottom left corner.
Above

Alex Trochut: Binary Prints – Lazarus (Day)

A green and black halftone illustration of a person wearing a wide-brimmed hat. Their face is partially obscured by shadows and organic, leaf-like patterns. The name “Danian Lazarus” is written in small capitals at the bottom.
Above

Alex Trochut: Binary Prints – Lazarus (Night)

A halftone print of a person’s face with their eyes closed. The image is composed of a dense grid of small black dots on a pale yellow background.
Above

Alex Trochut: Binary Prints – Lucy (Day)

A green and black digital illustration of a person’s face, rendered in a glitchy, pixelated style. The word “Lucy” appears in small white capitals at the bottom centre.
Above

Alex Trochut: Binary Prints – Lucy (Night)

A halftone print of a person with a beard, their eyes closed and mouth open as if shouting. The image is composed of a dense grid of small black dots on a pale yellow background.
Above

Alex Trochut: Binary Prints – Murphy (Day)

A green halftone portrait of a person wearing glasses, a white shirt and a dark tie. The figure is set against a busy, textured background of overlapping graphics and text, including the words “Field Party”.
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Alex Trochut: Binary Prints – Murphy (Night)

A halftone print of a person covering their face with both hands. The image is rendered in a fine grid of black dots against a pale green background.
Above

Alex Trochut: Binary Prints – Talabot (Day)

A green halftone image of a person with their arms raised, framing their head. The figure is composed of a dense grid of dots against a black background. Small text at the bottom reads “John Talabot”.
Above

Alex Trochut: Binary Prints – Talabot (Night)

A halftone print of a person with curly hair, a beard and glasses, looking directly at the camera. The image is rendered in a pattern of small black dots on a pale yellow background.
Above

Alex Trochut: Binary Prints – Acid Paul (Day)

A green and black halftone illustration of a person wearing glasses. Swirling, liquid-like patterns distort the left side of the face, and the words “ACID PAULI” appear at the bottom.
Above

Alex Trochut: Binary Prints – Acid Paul (Night)

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About the Author

Rob Alderson

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Rob Alderson is a freelance writer, editor and strategist. He was previously editor-in-chief of It’s Nice That and WePresent, and editor of Design Week. He publishes the newsletter Undo, which tries to make sense of how AI is changing design work, the design process and the design industry.

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