This article was first published in the November 2015 issue of WIRED magazine. Be the first to read WIRED's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
Every Facebook status or tweet you post is just one of billions shared every day -- but to Liat Segal it's art. "I'm interested in identity and our feeling of self in the context of social networks," says the Tel Aviv-based artist. "What we share fades away, but what if it was permanent?"
As an artist and hacker, Segal deals with the philosophical impacts of technology: how we shape our data, and how it shapes us.
Take her 2014 show People You May Know. The title work is built from 76 speakers hung from the ceiling; each plays a recording of Segal reading out Facebook posts as the viewer walks underneath.
Placeholder (pictured) consists of nearly 1,000 foil tubes suspended two storeys up; only when viewed from a certain angle does the image -- Facebook's female friend logo -- reveal itself.
A computer scientist by training, Segal builds and codes each piece herself: Writing Machine consists of a paintbrush dipped in water and attached to a robotic arm above a plaster canvas; the arm writes the names of Segal's social-media contacts as they post. 2012's Heart Of The Tin Man translates feeds into abstract paintings. "I show the electronics," she says. "For me, the cables are like painters: you can see the brushstrokes."
For her next show, Segal will explore something even more complex: time. "I'm interested in the way time moves for people; like when 'time flies' or goes really slowly," she says. Slowing down, she says, might make us appreciate art in unexpected places -- even on Facebook.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
