I make paintings that explore how gamification of digital space influences lived experience, turning the physical world into an extension of the digital.
As AI becomes more advanced, there is an increasing sense of distrust, danger, and surveillance in the digital world. This is perhaps most obviously felt when we are unexpectedly presented with a captcha test: “Let’s confirm that you are human.” Captchas are an uncomfortable reminder that there are malicious bots trawling the digital space, actively trying to steal our information. The captcha tests themselves are no more difficult than games a child would play- follow simple instructions, select all the pictures of curtains, decipher the secret word and type it in the box below. But in completing these tasks, human cognitive labor is used to train the machines. AI becomes smarter, more adept at identifying images and text, and more effective in understanding human behavior.
The more we interact with screens, the more our behavior is monitored, measured, and shaped by algorithms designed to keep us engaged. These algorithms track our attention and habits, using them to create tailored streams of content that turn our devices into personalized Skinner boxes-operant conditioning chambers that use intermittent rewards to reinforce behavior. As more aspects of daily life are experienced through the screen, more aspects of life become gamified, quantified into points, likes, shares, matches, streaks, step counts, sleep scores, and notifications nudging us to reopen apps that we just closed. We are conditioned into constant engagement through interface that feels like play.
Born in 1996, much of my developmental years were spent in digital space. I spent hundreds, maybe thousands of hours playing video and computer games specifically marketed to children, and I became just as familiar with the rules of digital game space as I was with the rules of the physical world. In middle school, instant messaging platforms and social media turned the digital world into an extension of the social arena that used to be contained within the school. Throughout my teenage years, the digital space quickly transformed into a site of socialization, education, production and consumption. As an adult, I waste hours mindlessly absorbing streams of content, shopping, working, dating, studying, socializing, all within the digital space. The screen, which once offered escape through play, has become an inescapable game.
I make paintings that explore how gamification of digital space influences lived experience, turning the physical world into an extension of the digital. My paintings depict a constructed reality which has been taken over by game logic, where even mundane tasks offer the promise of points and rewards. The images are set within a domestic interior, with doors, windows, and screens providing glimpses into an inaccessible world just beyond its walls. How did we end up in this game space, and how much of a choice do we have in playing? With bright colors, recognizable game compositions, visual clues, and barely hidden easter eggs, the paintings take advantage of viewers’ gamified thinking to transform into sites of interface.