What if , rather of marketing to a general demographic , you marketedto a specific someone ? What if , or else of waiting for a patron to commission new work , an artist simply designed it base on someone ’s psychological visibility ? If an on-line ad askedfor you by name , could you refuse ?
These are some of the doubtfulness asked by Julian Garcia and MattGoerzen ’s undertaking “ Shaq Attack ! ” The creative person , members of Montreal ’s Boca Gallery digital graphics collective , expend Google AdSense to lead the NBAsuperstar , art collector , and curator to an artwork they have “ tailored to hisunique sensibility . ”
The campaign keywords and the intent of Shaq ’s musical composition ( a “ dunk fishing tackle ” to be manufacture out of the rarest hardwoods , once Shaq ordersit ) are based on what they call “ Artisanale Data Mining . ”
In other Word , they stalked him .
Buthe ’s a celebrity , so the artist say they did n’t have to do anythingquestionable to build up their profile of Shaq . Everything they ask was already inpublic , from where they say Shaq lives ( Mount Dora , Florida ) to his favoritevideo plot ( Call of Duty ) , from how much he like buying stuff ( he likes it alot ) to whether he is obsessed with Charles Barkley ( he is ) .
A glide from Garcia ’s and Goerzen ’s presentation at DHC fine art .
Based on their “ profiling , ” they identified keywords ofinterest in AdSense and chose those — like “ shaq is the best”—that had the lowestsearch volume . Ouch .
Of naturally , they do n’t want many citizenry to sink in on theirads . In fact , they do n’t desire anyone to clickon their ads except for Shaquille O’Neal .
Their overall plan includedworkshopsto developthe ad and to hone the purpose of “ medium . ”
If you think the point of produce art is to betray it , then the Garcia - Goerzen approaching is an environmental melioration : it only createspre - sold objects .
But , beyond a cynical exemplar for 21st - century artpractice , “ Shaq Attack ! ” fetch past some of the common questions — like if twoartists can meet a “ handmade ” profile of a celebrity whose information is publicand then use that data to trade something to him , what can organizations like Facebook , Google , and the NSA do ? Howaccurately can information - excavation tools , like “ aggregated psychological profiles , ” predict what you will do with your pressure cooker or yourcredit card ? And what do you care as long as they are right ?
“ Shaq Attack ! ” starts out assuming this sort of predictivemarketing is already happening ( it is ) and that companies are lay down money ( they are ) byclaiming they ’re simply the best at predicting your conduct . So why should n’t artistsget in on the natural action ?
Meanwhile , Garcia and Goerzen are assume other bids while they wait for The Big Shaqtus to reply to their ad . “ That would be like stuffingShaq . ”
run image credits : Bob Bekian / Shutterstock
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