Lori Hepner: Status Symbols: A study in tweets

Artist(s):

• Lori Hepner

Title:

Status Symbols: A study in tweets

Exhibition:

• DAC Online Exhibition 2011: Analogue is the New Digital

Creation Year:

2011

Category:

• 2D & Wall-Hung

Artist Statement:

Status Symbols: A Study in Tweets, is a series of virtual portraits that are studies of identity in the digital age of social media. Textual updates on sites such as Twitter and Facebook allow for virtual personas to be created with the prodding of – “What are you doing?” or “What’s on your mind?” – at the direction of the social networks.Status Symbols showcases the virtual identities derived from these self-scripted selfportraits. Abstract portraits are created with spinning LEDs that translate the written words into flashing bursts of light and reflecting the computer’s language of binary code. Custom created hardware and software are used to transform the text into ons and offs signatures of binary code which is usually invisible at the base level of digital communication. Each portrait then represents a fleeting moment of identity in the digital world. The conceptual basis for the project is based upon current events related to digital identity, censorship, and privacy as seen through Twitter posts.Collaborative portraits were made as a part of the @1stfans Twitter Art feed at the Brooklyn Museum in December 2010. The series also looks at portraiture through online updates from people who have larger than single-person identities, such as @BarackObama and @Britneyspears in addition to asking for the #status of everyday people whose portraits are then created in lights.