CONTEST 2021 is an expansive photographic artwork, and it is a chapter of my doctoral thesis. The research work was created with the support of twenty-seven hosts, organised into three groups during the period from May to October 2021.
Group 1. Nine individuals explicitly connected to my PhD, made up of my three supervisors, two referees and four critical friends. ‘Like with me’ is the slogan written in the sticky mixture on the pixels.
Group 2. Nine individuals who I would like to work with further, made up of artists, critics and curators who have supported my career. This groups slogan is ‘Links Matter.’
Group 3. Nine individuals who support me practically, materially, emotionally and economically, made up of family and friends. ‘Keep in Touch’ is the slogan for this group.
Each person was asked to host an artwork in the form of a pixel tile that had been partially coated with a sticky substance for a month, photograph it in situ and then return the artwork to me. My intention was to spotlight the ordinary, imperceptible, and extensive methods through which our personal data is gathered, extracted, and amassed. On return receipt of the pixel tiles I photographed the tiles back in their original grouping, and also captured images using a 1000x magnification USB microscope. The resulting research work is a series of composite prints that reveal personal data.
