Algorithmic Memories by Marco Cadioli at Link Cabinet – Documentation
Algorithmic Memories by Marco Cadioli at Link Cabinet – Documentation
Algorithmic Memories by Marco Cadioli is a new project conceived in occasion of the exhibition at Link Cabinet. It presents a series of videos generated by Google+ for its users, and investigates some crucial current topics such as the representation of the self in social networks and the standardization of emotions and memories.
“Year in Photos” is the title of the videos that Google+ made for its users as an end of the year 2014 gift. All these videos have been generated by an algorithm selecting the images that were supposed to be the best among the ones on the user account. Some of them are the actual shooting; others have been generated by a software able to pinpoint the best smiles among similar pictures and combine them in a single, perfect pic. Selected, cropped and combined with a soundtrack, these images are assembled following a specific sequence that remains the same in all videos.
Cadioli places selected “Year in Photos” videos side by side on the same web page, allowing the viewer to identify similarities and recurring patterns, and bringing to visibility the increasing, though usually almost invisibles role played by algorithms not just in the selection of available content, but also in the management of the storytelling and the representation of the self. A phenomenon that, according to the artist, is generating an effect of standardization of memories and emotions, in a context in which the format is much more important that the content.
Marco Cadioli lives and works in Milan, where he is a lecturer at the Accademia di Comunicazione. Selected solo shows include Der Neue Wanderer (Overfoto, Napoli 2009), Abstract Journeys (Gloriamaria Gallery, Milan 2012) and Necessary Lines (Link Point, Brescia 2014). Since 2004 he participated in festivals and group exhibitions nationally and internationally, including: Premio Michetti, Francavilla al Mare 2005; Superneen, Milan 2006; Netspace, MAXXI, Rome 2007; Atopic Festival, Paris 2009 and 2010; FotoGrafia, Macro Testaccio, Roma 2010; Neoludica, Biennale di Venezia 2011; AFK, Casino Luxembourg 2011; BYOB, Museo Pecci Milan 2012; InterAccess Electronic Media Arts Centre, Toronto 2013.
Below a video and some images documenting the exhibition and the whole project.
Link Cabinet is a single web page hosting solo shows where artists exhibit a single, site-specific artwork. Conceived as a white and neutral exhibition space with an essential interface, Link Cabinet is a blank space that will be transformed by the works on display. After the show, the projects won’t be available on the site anymore. Link Cabinet is a project by Matteo Cremonesi for the Link Art Center.
The Link Art Center is proudly part of Masters & Servers. Networked Culture in the Post-Digital Age, a European adventure focused on a new generation of digital interventionism, awarded with a Creative Europe 2014 – 2020 grant. Up to August 2016, Masters & Servers will explore networked culture in the post-digital age.
