Jonathan Harris, Gregor Hochmuth: Network Effect
Title:
- Network Effect
Artist(s) and People Involved:
Exhibiting Artist(s):
Symposium:
- ISEA2020: 26th International Symposium on Electronic Art
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More artworks from ISEA2020:
Creation Year:
- 2015
Medium:
- Database of various content drawn from the internet
Duration:
- Assigned number of minutes
Artist Statement:
Network Effect embodies the best and the worst of the internet, a vast and inexhaustible reservoir of knowledge, but also of trivia that sparks curiosity and anxiety.
The work takes the form of a database of various content drawn from the internet: 10,000 videos, 10,000 voice recordings, and as many news items, tweets, tables, graphs and lists are used to enrich a repertoire of 100 human behaviours. In order to access the project, the user is faced with an unusual temporal constraint. A system identifies the country linked to the computer’s IP address and assigns a number of minutes of browsing, reminding us that our online presence is constantly monitored and interpreted. A thorough exploration of the database is therefore impossible, prompting quick scanning or indifferent browsing.
Network Effect asks us to ponder the internet’s claim of exhaustiveness and the effects of its experience. By confronting us with an overflow of information, the work reflects the internet’s excessive becoming, as well as our insatiable quest for novelty and stimulation. Network Effect points to both the wearing out of information and the subject.
