Daniel Everett
Security Questions

Exhibition Details

Starting from the security questions used by algorithms to verify our identity and protect our online accounts, Everett reflects on the distance that divides us human beings from the technological systems that observe us, study us and value us.

What was your first pet's name? Who was your favorite teacher in high school? What street did you live on as a child? A machine interrogates us to verify who we are. Facing its questions, we do not feel acknowledged - on the contrary, we become mere data in the service of an algorithm. The abyss between us and the machines we have developed throughout history to simplify our lives is deeper than ever, a hard-to-solve paradox. Something endearing and melancholic, however, comes with the absurdity of their language: it is their awkward attempt to read our uniqueness.

How do we draw a line between what is human and what is not, and who do we become when faced with the tight demands of an algorithm? In this exhibition, the anxiety generated by technologies and the quest for maximum efficiency evolves, for Everett, into a broader existential malaise: his constant strive for perfection, experienced in the multiple roles of artist, teacher, father, and human being.