Ad Infinitum draws a link between our insatiable consumption of social media and the anthropocentric perspective which interprets terrestrial resources (and now, ever increasingly, cosmological resources) as infinite, exploiting them immeasurably. A concrete rock forms a mountain, while underground different minerals become layers of time in an infinite scroll. In search of instant satisfaction, despite all the mundane textures, we dig with our fingers into a database of smooth and endless atmosphere.
In addition to the infinite scroll, a set of counterfunctional[4] objects was designed to further explore the materiality of our everyday digital footprint. Despite their familiar form factor, the touch-sensitive cement phones are heavy, rough, cracked and only present shadows of infinite information, in complete opposition to the slick, smooth and glossy techno-positivism associated with our un-resistive flow of data and signals.
This project was developed with Mari Nagem during the artistic residency ComCiência, at the Museum of Mines and Metals in Belo Horizonte, Brazil and later expanded and presented as part of Sala_Taller in the Space for Contemporary Art in Montevideo, Uruguay.
[1] Chabot, Pascal (2013). The Philosophy of Simondon. Bloomsbury Academic.
[2] Han, Byung-Chul (2017). Saving Beauty. Polity Press.
[3] Hui, Yuk Hui (2020). Tecnodiversidade. Ubu Editora.
[4] Pierce, James & Paulos, Eric (2014). Counterfunctional things: Exploring possibilities in designing digital limitations. Proceedings of the 2014 Conference on Designing Interactive Systems.
2023: Salla_Taller, EAC - Montevideo, UY
2022: Condições de Existência, Oi Futuro - Rio de Janeiro, BR
2021: Jardim Mineral, Museu das Minas e do Metal - Belo Horizonte, BR