2 Folders and 1 Files
It looks like a scene from one of those bad dreams: Andy Picci, all dressed in black, is in a bright white room. He is sitting there, waiting. Behavior he calls into the room: «Someone there?» The answer is missing. He gets nervous, gets up, gasps for breath. He desperately sinks to the ground. «Please!» He calls. «Please, let me out!» No answer.
«Let me out» is the title of the installation. In his work, the Swiss artist Andy Picci deals with the influence of digitization on society. The economist Shosana Zuboff summarizes the developments in the digital age with the term surveillance capitalism: “Today, being digitally connected is a means to other people’s business goals. Basically, surveillance capitalism is parasitic and self-referential. (…) Instead of work, surveillance capitalism feeds on every kind of human experience. «
People share experiences on social media. What used to be for holiday photos now also applies to everyday life: «I was there, I did that.» I wake up, I drink coffee, I eat avocado toast. Photos are not shared on social media as objects that should stand for themselves. As one picture among many, the photo of the avocado toast is part of the sender’s communication. «Social photography can make life a bit of a game, with likes and hearts and followers to collect,» said social media theorist Nathan Jurgenson.
The competition on the Internet is great, the artist is one of many. «If a Tumblr note has no notes, is it art?» Asked artist Brad Troemel in 2013. Today the question would be: If a post on Instagram doesn’t get likes, is it art? According to Troemel, the artist should always be at the top of the news feed. The speed at which sharing is as important as the content. For this, Troemel coined the term «Aesthlete», its definition: a cultural producer that trumps manual and contemplative brooding with immediacy and quick production. «It is the journey, not the destination,» wrote Troemel, who said that Aesthlete had to run like Super Mario continuously.
«Please!» Calls Andy Picci. «Please, let me out!»
Text: Anika Meier, 2019
Last edited: December 09, 2022
Size: 3 KB