The art of Paolo Cirio: exposing new myths of big data structures
The art of Paolo Cirio: exposing new myths of big data structures
This article examines the work of Internet activist and artist Paolo Cirio, whose practice intersects with matters of copyright, privacy, transparency, and corporate finance. His project Loophole for All, for example, exposes the practice of tax evasion in the Cayman Islands by counterfeiting Certificate of Incorporation documents. An important aspect of Cirio’s work is how he names himself in the process. Placed within our contemporary ‘data turn’, his work is framed critically in this article in terms of a ‘new structuralist’ account of culture and society. The article attends to the view that power increasingly comes through the algorithm, but argues we risk reifying so-called generative rules, which may simply be algorithms out of sight. Cirio’s art practice helps focus on what it means to make a critique of contemporary and ubiquitous algorithm structures. As part of which, the article considers how ‘anonymity’ underlines subversive art practices of the twentieth century and contemporary protest groups, but which arguably undermines attempts to affect change.
Anonymity, Art Practice, Big Data, Paolo Cirio, Structuralism
Manghani, Sunil
75650a9a-458d-4e1a-9480-94491300e385
1 December 2017
Manghani, Sunil
75650a9a-458d-4e1a-9480-94491300e385
Manghani, Sunil
(2017)
The art of Paolo Cirio: exposing new myths of big data structures.
Theory, Culture & Society, 34 (7-8).
(doi:10.1177/0263276417732624).
Abstract
This article examines the work of Internet activist and artist Paolo Cirio, whose practice intersects with matters of copyright, privacy, transparency, and corporate finance. His project Loophole for All, for example, exposes the practice of tax evasion in the Cayman Islands by counterfeiting Certificate of Incorporation documents. An important aspect of Cirio’s work is how he names himself in the process. Placed within our contemporary ‘data turn’, his work is framed critically in this article in terms of a ‘new structuralist’ account of culture and society. The article attends to the view that power increasingly comes through the algorithm, but argues we risk reifying so-called generative rules, which may simply be algorithms out of sight. Cirio’s art practice helps focus on what it means to make a critique of contemporary and ubiquitous algorithm structures. As part of which, the article considers how ‘anonymity’ underlines subversive art practices of the twentieth century and contemporary protest groups, but which arguably undermines attempts to affect change.
Text
Manghani-Art-Paolo-Cirio-FINAL
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 19 August 2017
e-pub ahead of print date: 19 October 2017
Published date: 1 December 2017
Additional Information:
Sunil Manghani is Professor of Theory, Practice & Critique, Director of Doctoral Research and Director of the Critical Practices Research Group at Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton (UK). He teaches and writes on various aspects of critical theory, visual arts and image studies. He is author of Image Studies: Theory and Practice (2013), Image Critique and the Fall of the Berlin Wall (2008) and an editor of India’s Biennale Effect: A Politics of Contemporary Art (2016), Barthes/Burgin: Notes Towards an Exhibition (2016), Farewell to Visual Studies (2015), Images: A Reader (2006), and Images: Critical and Primary Sources (2013).
Keywords:
Anonymity, Art Practice, Big Data, Paolo Cirio, Structuralism
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 413348
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/413348
ISSN: 0263-2764
PURE UUID: 0ba21d65-ffbd-44e0-862a-ebf415651c49
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 22 Aug 2017 16:31
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 05:39
Export record
Altmetrics
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics
