THE ALGORITHM explores the power of text-as-image to frame the digital era. The series follows on from the PLAYLIST project which observed the zeitgeist through the lens of slogans and civil protest. In these works the trigger is the idea of The Algorithm as a 21st century god. Crafted in code, rather than from clay or bronze, this deity retains traditional godly attributes - mysterious and invisible, omnipresent, all-powerful and all-knowing, both a boon and malevolent.

 

This series also references my SHOCK&AWE project. The rise of bureaucracy became palpable as a result of the US Patriots Act, passed just 45 days after 9/11. Partly intended to stop terrorists moving money it made all our financial lives more difficult, the presumption of innocence was no more. New jargon and acronyms emerged – compliance, EDD (enhanced due diligence), KYC (know your customer), AML (anti-money laundering), SOF (source of funds) to name a few. In a sense 9/11 catalysed the subversion of democracy by bureaucracy. Big data technology enabled this huge change and eventually spawned The Algorithm.