WE, ME

I designed this private exhibit in an unfinished space to make predictive algorithms— usually silent and invisible— seen and heard. I worked with an architect to create a tapering circular wall, the largest diameter that could fit in the space, covered with 4" shag carpeting, to absorb sound and enclose the gathering space. In contrast, I played with the coldness of the bathroom to let sound ricochet. I asked avant garde musician Elliot Sharp to create musical representations of counterfactual worlds, the foundations of the causal algorithms. I wrote and pasted text on the mirrors that read: THE PATTERNS OF ME, WE (IN)FORM. When an individual stood in front of the mirror to wash their hands, the ME text on the wall read WE in the reflection while E#’s piece repeatedly played patterns of music, eliminating sounds with each repetition and radically altering the reality.

470 Park Avenue South, NYC