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Network Ecologies

Gnomecrafting

Karin + Shane Denson (2015)
20" x 20"
Acrylic on Canvas

This piece thinks about the so-called "immaterial labor" of computation and gameplay, taking the popular game Minecraft as a thematic locus for reflecting on the way that contemporary platforms mine ludic activity, process it algorithmically, and transform leisure-time consumption into a new form of production or work. Mirroring this process, we have taken metadata generated while our son played online sessions of Minecraft and turned it into a new data gnome. In the augmented video that appears when you scan the painting, you'll also see the first gnome we planted back into the Minecraft world.

Image: © Karin & Shane Denson

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Contents of this path:
2. Tutorial Level
3. Portrait of the Artist as a Data Cloud I Karin + Shane Denson (2015)
  20" x 20"
  Acrylic on canvas
  
  These "Data Portraits" are data-generated objects based on personal Internet usage, processed with a custom Python script written by Luke Caldwell and hand-painted by Karin Denson. Scanning one of the nine QR codes on the right will unlock augmented reality (AR) scenarios that will be superimposed on the Data Portraits. The scenarios, some of which are interactive, explore various facets of contemporary interactions between physical, virtual, and augmented realities.
  
  Image: © Karin & Shane Denson
4. Portrait of the Artist as a Data Cloud II Karin + Shane Denson (2015)
  20" x 20"
  Acrylic on canvas
  
  These "Data Portraits" are data-generated objects based on personal Internet usage, processed with a custom Python script written by Luke Caldwell and hand-painted by Karin Denson. Scanning one of the nine QR codes on the right will unlock augmented reality (AR) scenarios that will be superimposed on the Data Portraits. The scenarios, some of which are interactive, explore various facets of contemporary interactions between physical, virtual, and augmented realities.
  
  Image: © Karin & Shane Denson
5. The 9
6. Gnomecrafting Karin + Shane Denson (2015)
  20" x 20"
  Acrylic on Canvas
  
  This piece thinks about the so-called "immaterial labor" of computation and gameplay, taking the popular game Minecraft as a thematic locus for reflecting on the way that contemporary platforms mine ludic activity, process it algorithmically, and transform leisure-time consumption into a new form of production or work. Mirroring this process, we have taken metadata generated while our son played online sessions of Minecraft and turned it into a new data gnome. In the augmented video that appears when you scan the painting, you'll also see the first gnome we planted back into the Minecraft world.
  
  Image: © Karin & Shane Denson
7. The Magical Marx-Markov Manifesto Maker
8. Marx QR Karin + Shane Denson (2015)
  24" x 24"
  Acrylic on Canvas
  
  Upon scanning this QR painting, a digital rendering of a hand-sculpted Karl Marx Gnome appears in augmented space. The physical gnome, which is made out of solid concrete and can be seen in the window display to the left, was scanned with photogrammetric techniques and brought back into the digital realm as a 3D object. This piece, like all of the works collected in "Making Mining Networking," reflects on the contemporary boundary between physical, virtual, and augmented spaces and seeks to link this theme with questions about "immaterial labor" and the mining of our digital activity.
9. The Gnomes of #netcologies
10. Karl Marx Gnome leading the liberation of the world's Data Gnomes Karin + Shane Denson (2015)
  Solid concrete
  
  The six "Data Gnomes" are simultaneously products and agents of data mining. Their faces were hand-sculpted in accordance with a data-capture process, utilizing Luke Caldwell's "benevolent spyware" for the purpose of generating "Data Portraits" on the basis of personal Internet usage. The hand-sculpted Karl Marx Gnome leads the resistance of the miners, demonstrating that "all that's solid does NOT melt into zeroes and ones." For more info about the process and motivation for making these gnomes, be sure to scan the "Tutorial Level" painting (a QR code painting with the word "START" in green letters), which you'll find hanging near the entrance of the exhibition space.
11. The Gold Standard