The invisible bots and algorithms which govern our online behavior and collect our data every day, adopt visual forms in the series Bots by the artist duo Banz & Bowinkel. We encounter these augmented beings at the PRISKA PASQUER gallery, where they communicate with each other according to their own set of rules. These rules remain hidden from the visitors, because as on the Internet, we are not always sure what the algorithms are doing.
In the Banz and Bowinkel series Primitives, found objects built from the so-called “primitives” are exhibited in their augmented forms. Primitives are basic graphical forms that are used as a foundation for the creation of more complex structures. Triangles or polygons are important primitive forms that make up digital 3D objects. They are the building blocks of the virtual world and, due to their comprehensible and clear shapes, symbolize the counter-images to the complex procedures of the bots and algorithms.
The Internet is a training ground for artificial intelligence to study, evaluate, and learn to anticipate human behavior. In doing so, they make our lives easier as we use map apps, talk to Alexa, or when Siri sets our alarm clock. Their knowledge helps drive our connection to technology and keeps it running as frictionless as possible. In the 1990s, we deliberately dialed into the Internet using routers and now we are connected to the internet automatically. Today we still push buttons and give voice commands, but tomorrow we will control our actions with eye movements, hand movements, or even brain waves.
The blurring of the boundary between humans and technology amplifies the importance of virtual worlds, their bots, and their algorithms. Nonetheless, we as humans are also rising giants. Every day, we use digital means more and more naturally and fluently. Even after finding ourselves in this unfamiliar territory, technology has become a fundamental part of us.
Tina Sauerlaender
Giulia Bowinkel (* 1983) and Friedemann Banz (* 1980) live in Berlin and have been working together under the name Banz & Bowinkel since 2009. In 2007 they graduated from the Art Academy with Albert Oehlen and started making art with computers. Their work includes computer-generated imagery, animation, augmented imagery, virtual realities, and installations.
The award-winning works of Giulia Bowinkel and Friedemann Banz have been exhibited among others in the Museum Abteiberg in Mönchengladbach, in the Haus Esters/Haus Lange, at the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum in Krefeld, at the Haus of the electronic arts in Basel, in the Halle für Kunst & Medien in Graz, at the Zeppelin Museum in Friedrichshafen and at the NRW-Kunstforum Düsseldorf. Her works are in the collections of the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum in Krefeld, the Museum Kunstpalast and the Kunsthaus NRW.