Luke Ryan
In my practice I focus on my growing concerns about the prevalence of digital surveillance and the interaction between consumerism and false representations produced by artificial intelligence imaging software. The materiality (or lack thereof) and fluidity of the digital image is engaged when making T.H.E.M.: The Heuristic Electric Machine (2020) by collecting and altering images from online sources. Another method I use to explore the overload of images and consumerism is typology. The project Spree (Or How I Learned To Survive A Pandemic Through Mindless Consumerism) (2021) is a way to examine my own consumption habits through photographing everything I bought during the pandemic.
Spree: (Or How I Learned To Survive A Pandemic Through Mindless Consumerism)
Spree scrutinises how I helped cope with the endlessness of the pandemic. This coping was done through consumerism. Over the past year I bought stuff that I definitely would not have bought if there was no pandemic.