Reflection on Infocracy in the Artistic Context
The powerful analogy made by philosopher Byung-Chul Han between the transparency of Apple's Flagship store in New York and the Black Shroud of the Kaaba in Mecca invites reflection on the regime of information in the digital age. This comparison not only highlights continuities and discontinuities in historical processes from cultural studies but also analyzes how the information society operates between dual pairs—opacity & transparency, openness & closure—within the framework of communication networks in a game of isolation and integration given by these networks. How does this form of dominance affect artistic practices and content creation?
The Regime of Information
If Apple's flagship store symbolizes transparency and unlimited access to information, in contrast, the Kaaba would represent the opacity of the communication system. The current regime of information fluctuates between visibility and opacity in its mechanisms of control and management.
In artistic practices, this duality (transparency and opacity) manifests in how information about artworks, artists, and creative processes is shared or concealed. While digital platforms promise unprecedented visibility, they also impose aesthetic parameters and a degree of surveillance and control, determining what content goes viral and what remains in the dark.
Algorithms and Creative Processes
The processing of information through algorithms and artificial intelligence has a significant impact on social, economic, and political processes, and the arts are no exception. The algorithms that govern social media and other digital platforms play a crucial role in the visibility of artworks and the construction of artistic legitimacy.
Today, artists find themselves in a position where content creation is deeply influenced by the need to be visible on social media. This phenomenon raises questions about authenticity and autonomy throughout the creative process. How much of what we create is genuinely driven by a need for expression, and how much is shaped by the pressure of algorithms and the pursuit of visibility?
Creation and Social Media: A Contemporary Dilemma
Social media has democratized access to audiences, allowing artists to reach a global public without traditional intermediaries. However, this democratization comes at a cost. The logic of social networks prioritizes engagement and virality, which could lead to a homogenization of content or a depletion of meaning, where originality and depth are sacrificed for the sake of "likes" and shares. Quantification is overvalued in relation to qualification.
In this context, artists must navigate between the need for visibility and the integrity of their creative practice. Is it possible to balance the influence of algorithms while maintaining creative authenticity? Personally, I believe one way to avoid content homogenization is by creating with multiple units of meaning. Deepening the layers of signifiers and ignoring network recommendations or trends. The communicative substrate of a work is a possible way to safeguard its uniqueness or, in other terms, to safeguard Walter Benjamin's "aura."
Conclusion
The era of infocracy forces us to reconsider the regime of information and its impact on the artistic field. As artists, we must be aware of how these dynamics affect our practice and find ways to resist homogenization and the depletion of meaning.
The digital cave reflects a copy of fictitious freedom, alluding to mythical narratives of hyperconnectivity. There is no outside of the information cave; it is only a series of algorithms. The digital cave is part of the same modern utopian quest, a further continuity of historical processes.
Iconography in this dystopian world creates fragmented and ephemeral spaces. The digital rain projects onto a crystalline cube that reflects binary structures. The paradox and overload of information refract the mythological faith in SEO metrics. This is a testament to resistance in the binary tempest.
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