Machine Readable
- Roopa Vasudevan
- Annenberg School for Communication
- Student Arts Innovation Grant
“My artwork uses data and technology in order to interrogate or subvert social and cultural practices, focusing on issues of human identity and agency in the digital era; power relationships and how they manifest through technology; and coming up with more creative and ethical practices for tech-based art and design. I use creative and experimental approaches to working with computer programming and digital media in order to highlight and interrogate technology’s role in our lives.” - Roopa Vasudevan
“Machine Readable” is a body of work exploring the ways in which human identity is altered, flattened, and compartmentalized to fit the demands of algorithms and technology. Drawing from theory in critical software and internet studies, it asks us to consider the impact of our increasingly digitized way of life on how we view ourselves and others, how we shape ourselves to adhere to the rigid rules and structures required of an inflexible and binary system, and how technology ends up ossifying identity-based categorical boundaries. Vasudevan will complete four “Machine Readable” projects in advance of a solo exhibition at Vox Populi in Philadelphia. This work includes a series of interactive audiovisual works, printed pieces, and performances, designed to reflect her research and engage audiences in these questions. In conjunction with the exhibition and as part of Vox Populi’s programming, Vasudevan will hold several events centered on technology and identity, and invite other practitioners and artists in the field to participate in panels or roundtable discussions on how they examine or critique technology in their own practices.