De Realidad: Astillas

Recommendation algorithms are machines designed to produce astillas . By isolating a specific scene from a film, a line from a book, or a face from a crowd, the algorithm decontextualizes data. These digital splinters float in an infinite scroll, acquiring new meanings with every re-contextualization. A protest sign from 2019 becomes a meme in 2024; the historical reality is lost, but the visual astilla remains lethal. 4. Case Studies: Aesthetics of Fragmentation 4.1 Literature: Cortázar’s "Axolotl" Julio Cortázar, a master of the ontological fracture, wrote stories where reality splinters through obsessive looking. In "Axolotl," the narrator stares into an aquarium until the boundary between observer and observed shatters. The astilla here is the gaze itself—a fragment of perception that cuts through the Cartesian subject. The narrator does not lose reality; he is invaded by a splinter of amphibian existence.

In an era saturated by hyper-stimulation and algorithmic curation, the human perception of reality has shifted from a continuous, fluid stream to a fragmented, volatile state. This paper introduces the concept of Astillas de Realidad (Splinters of Reality) as a critical and aesthetic framework for understanding how contemporary art, literature, and digital media represent the collapse of monolithic truth into sharp, irreducible fragments. Drawing from post-structuralist theory, neuroaesthetics, and Latin American magical realism, this paper argues that the "splinter" is not a failure of perception but a more honest representation of the post-truth condition. We analyze how these splinters function as traumatic remnants, mnemonic shards, and rebellious particles that resist the totalizing gaze of ideology. Astillas De Realidad

Astillas de Realidad: Toward a Poetics of Fractured Perception in Post-Digital Narratives A protest sign from 2019 becomes a meme

Consider the work of contemporary digital collage artists (e.g., Jospeh Klibansky or abstract glitch artists). They take high-resolution, hyperreal images and splice them. The violence of the cut is visible. The astilla appears as a pixelated edge or a jarring juxtaposition—a cloud in a living room, a hand that is also a landscape. This aesthetic forces the viewer to acknowledge the splinter rather than looking through it. In "Axolotl," the narrator stares into an aquarium