cw: (Truth) There Is No Algorithm For...
The cw Series is an ongoing collection of performative poems beginning in 2016, following a quest for deeper meaning in the slightly banal, slightly chaotic and ultimately poetic renderings of modern generative text tools. In each video, the artist becomes the embodiment a generative text tool herself as she recites the results of her elaborate writing method. Each video-poem in The cw Series emits its own tone and subtle messages, ultimately chosen by reading the exact verbatim words of a Google search result, which becomes further embelleshed when translated into a foreign language with an online translator, and back once again.
The dichotomy here between clarity and obscurity responds to the relentless flow of information across current media networks, looking at the heightening emphasis on performance over product, image over info.
“In her theory of ‘communicative capitalism’, [Jodi Dean] suggests that today messages are mere contributions — all that matters in the seemingly relentless flow of social media networks is not what was said but that something was said. The performance overtakes the project.”
Jack Clarke, Mythinformation as MethodThe cw Series (named after a widely-used acronym in online communities "cw", for "content warning") explores both the beauty and the dangers of generative systems as machine-learning technology becomes increasingly more prevalent in the coming age.
cw: (Truth) There Is No Algorithm For... was featured at CJ One Gallery in New York City in March 2020. Below are images of it installed in the gallery.
