Learn to be a Machine │ DistantObject #1

Learn to be a Machine | DistantObject #1 is an abstract system of obedience and manipulation. The video installation features a representation of the artist himself, who has provided a means for the audience to interact with the system. By scrolling a trackball, the audience can manipulate the direction of the artist’s eyes. Blinking and facial expressions are generated randomly. The work explores the power relation between humans and machines. It also emphasizes the ambiguity between reality and vir tuality, the tangible and the intangible. We often find ourselves within systems where we are both following and giving orders, never sure whether we are controlling or being controlled. This artwork is a system that empowers and manipulates the manipulated so that they also in turn, manipulate the manipulated.