"Social Media Break Up Coordinator” is a performance piece that explores the very intertwined and interconnections of our online and offline lines. I am exploring the connections between our digital tools, and human intervention. where do algorithms fail, and humans must intervene? As users of social media, people live their most beautiful, angry, complex, and complicated lives online. I am exploring a series of solutions following a break up and how to ‘coordinate’ a la a therapist or social media coordinator for an ad agency one’s social media account following this messy un-coupling of algorithmic combinations intersections of multiple people’s lives. Like an algorithm, I am creating a series of solutions that can be combined for a variety of situations- following one night stands, best friend break ups, ending abusive relationships, ghosting, and long term partner break ups, as well as a myriad of others.
Every participant when sitting with me, as the Coordinator, signs a legal binding document drafted by my collaborator, Fred Jennings, of Tor Ekland law firm. This outlines that I am not a therapist and not held libel for damages. Then, users fill out a 21 point user quiz, which I prescribe answers out of an algorithm I hand wrote out and out less than 40 suggestions. Those suggestions can be puzzle piece together to have the user feel like they are receiving highly personal advice, when it is in fact, algorithmically generated.
The way I started to think about:
romantic break up:
[ Suggestion A ] + [ Suggestion D ] + [ Suggestion F]
friendship break up:
[ Suggestion D ] + [ Suggestion E ] + [ Suggestion F ]
Exhibitions
- Babycastles, NYC, December 2015
- Fusion, Oakland, January 2016
Selected Press
Talks:
Myself, as the coordinator, in a session at Babycastles.