The Modern Conversation

By panja / 15/09/2019 / Art, Installation, Interaction, Projects / No Comments

Our lives are mediated through technologies, but how aware are we about the effect of this extra guest in our relationships? This installation of electronic wearables explores machine mediation, surveillance and the embodiment of algorithmic communication. Translating the normally invisible wireless networks into an entangled scene of a staged three way relationship the audience is invited to become an active participant within this structure.

Pressure data from a shoe is computed to light up LEDs and operate a vibration motor on a speculative headset. Mimicking the ways algorithms organise and analyse our data, a monitor displays the “interpretation of the machine” composed from a soup of Tinder pickup lines, Trump and Katie Hopkins tweets as well as various customer service chatbots. The subject is captured by a camera yet masked by a collage of random machine found objects.

Translating the normally invisible wireless networks into an entangled scene of a staged three way relationship the audience is invited to become an active participant. By exploring the communication power of our feet through the means of an electronically wired shoe ‘The modern conversation’ prompts us to question how the machine will interpret us.