Hello, are you [`human`,`robot`]?
"Hello, are you [`human`,`robot`]? explores how we interact with online interfaces. Sometimes these interactions are mandatory, requiring us to click “accept all cookies” or solve a CAPTCHA test before we proceed. We train ourselves to recognize these queries, speedily responding in order to get to the next interaction. These rules of behaviourism are programmed into us, just as robots are programmed with rules to execute the tasks they perform.
It is funny how we need to prove we are not a robot by performing robotic-like tasks. With a click, we send our data to an enigmatic network. As an award, we find the data of our interactions pops up elsewhere on the web in places we don’t always expect.
Hello, are you [`human`,`robot`]? playfully introduces the user to the notion the interactions we engage with might be “robotising” us. It hints at all the interconnected data we yield and the rewards we receive. Performing in this way, how human are we?"
About Saskia Freeke
Saskia Freeke is an artist, creative coder, interaction designer, visual designer, and educator based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Her work addresses structure, geometry, and playfulness both in the digital and physical realm. Since 2015, she has created a daily digital artwork. She understands how to design with the user in mind and creates work reflecting on that process. Freeke holds a masters in Computational Art from the Goldsmiths.
About Minnesota Street Project Adjacent
Adjacent is a space where art happens online. Collaborating with galleries, creators, and partners around the world, the site showcases virtual talks, live performances, and more.
Adjacent is a direct response to the 2020 pandemic, re-imagining and re-contextualizing the Arts in this new reality. The site is an extension of the Minnesota Street Project’s physical space in San Francisco — breaking boundaries, inspiring curiosity, and championing conversations about the Arts.
Special thanks to Sietse van der Meer for his support