In this world that we live in, everything we do is guided by a force we never see and few understand: The holy algorithm; a series of calculation procedures, a numerical god who decides whether or not you’re a terrorist and what kids’ toy is going to be the best-seller this Christmas. The searches we make, the news we read, the dates we go on, the advertisements we see, the products we buy and the music we listen to. The stock market. The surveillance society. The police state, and the drones.
Have we succumbed and choose to believe in a more understandable god? The use of algorithm in our life. The conversation is not yes or no anymore. Now it’s what, where, when, why, and how. Maybe we should rethink about the excessive use of algorithms or maybe it is acceptable to use more algorithm in our life. In the end the one that will draw the line is humanity itself. Is algorithm pushing humanity forwards or is it controlling us? Everything is predictable in the eye of algorithm, because mathematical sequences are predictable. What remains to be seen is whether or not human beings are as predictable as algorithm thinks we are.
Source - Life in the Algorithm by Douglas Haddow
The concept of this project is to look at algorithm as it is a god and create a religion around it called Algodrithm. A tyrannical or a merciful god? A just or an evil god? Like actual religion that could bring bad things when is taken and used in the wrong way so does algorithm. The question to be answered is where is the line?
Insignia/Logo and Stamp Design
The design is an interpretation of "The invisible hand concept". A metaphor used by Adam Smith in economics to describe unintended social benefits resulting from individual actions. One of the main use of algorithm in marketing is to predict consumer behaviours and market trends. The hand gesture at first glance represents the OK hand symbol but at the same time its a hand gestures that people make when moving chess pieces. Around the hand is 3 propaganda messages: "I believe in the invisible hand", "The algorithm is always right", and "The invisible hand made me do it" which is the main mantras for Algodrithm. On the outer side is 4 character cipher that if translated reads omni a latin prefix that means all or everything.
In cryptography, a cipher (or cypher) is an algorithm for performing encryption or decryption—a series of well-defined steps that can be followed as a procedure. An alternative, less common term is encipherment. To encipher or encode is to convert information into cipher or code.
Cipher Design A-Z
Printed Cipher Design
Posters Design
Omnipotent /// Omnipresent /// Omniscient
The set of posters is a depiction of the 3 theological terms: omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient which are used to describe the true nature of god. The cipher on the posters, if deciphered are: "Omnipotent: having complete or unlimited power", "Omnipresent: present in all places at all times", and "Omniscient: having unlimited understanding". Mirroring the power and capabilities that algorithm have.
Publication Design
The publication is written wholly in cipher and function as the sacred text of Algdorithm. The publication is 48-pages long, the content inside are sacred texts rendered into algorithm context such as the ten commandments, hell, heaven, the promised land, the saints of Algodrithm, visual clue to solve the cipher, and etc. The text can be deciphered using a computer program or an online cipher decryption program easily, on the other hand, it can be deciphered using only pen and paper. The visual clues inside that are unreadable to a machine and will only make sense to a human mind. This is intended to engage the audience to re-think about the use of algorithm in our lives and how dependent we are to algorithm. The satisfaction feeling about understanding how things work rather than just force-fed the answer or the struggle that can be solved easily through algorithm.
Text translation: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0zfQhW7iyAvVEM1MkJxUXBCWjQ
The visual clue is a collage of items, pop culture reference, people, and places. The first letter of those items is the clue that is the translation of the cipher character below it. There are 5 visual clues in the publication that are the most common letters in English language.
Visual Clue E /// I
Visual Clue V /// P
Tote Bag Design
Tees Design
Illustration Progress
