WEAREDATA1 Portraits (2021-)

Trash in the Yard (2022)
Curation: Martina Raponi, Belle Phromchanya, Eden Mitsenmacher
Featuring works by: Hasna El Ouali, Dasha Starostin, Eli Hooper, Federico Ramírez Hönack, Johannes Heißenberg, Keo Borejszo, Kirwin Lonwijk, Ringaile Demšyte, Vanya Tretyakov, Vera Serlier, Victoria McGuire, Yasemin Kevser
Arboretum Trompenburg, Rotterdam

The “We Are Data” project is an exploration of the impact of technology and digital culture on the traditional human experience of portraiture. The ongoing series began in 2021 and comprises of 40 paintings on A4 paper, created using digitised data from social media personas. In order to bring this concept further into the physical realm, a selection of 64 designs from the first version have been engraved onto slate tablets using a laser. The tablets were then buried in soil in an undisclosed location in South Holland, to represent an eternal reminder of the people depicted within. While it is intended to be an artwork, it also functions as an archaeological excavation of our digital world; a reminder that our presence in the digital realm is equally as real and lasting.