Artist Statement - Art In The Age Of Algorithms

This was an artist statement Sundara Heart wrote for a collective artshow in a local bank.  The theme was Algorythms which seemed perfect for the space we presented our artworks at.

ARTIST STATEMENT - TAOS ARTIST COLLECTIVE 

We are in the age of algorithms that is slowly altering our collective behaviors in not so great ways. We are told that algorithms make us smarter, more capable, even desirable, and while in some circumstances this may be the case, they tend to make us more predictable, less spontaneous, and more malleable telling us what to watch, where to go, who we should spend time with, and what to buy. Algorithms even claim the potential to know how to make us happy, placing monetary values on intangibles like the enjoyment we get from the beauty of a sunset, a birds song, or the nights' sky. 

Art allows us to feel a myriad of emotions. Happiness is one of them. We don’t need a finite string of numbers, complex code, or marketing jargon to tell us this. Our relationship to art on this planet is long and healthy. But as human beings we are messy. And we fear messy. Perhaps this fear has given rise to the strength and way of the algorithm. A way to control, contain and keep us all together in a neat and tidy package. 

At the Collective we keep it together, but there were no calculated or formulaic approaches to the work we present here, nor at the gallery here in town. Instead we represent an eclectic mix of Southwestern, traditional and contemporary artists. A hodgepodge of sorts who celebrate and offer up their individual styles, personality’s and idiosyncrasies, all jumbled together into a beautiful array of landscapes and figurative expressions that speak to the beauty and people of Taos and New Mexico. 

Artists on show: 

Robert Batson, Kirk Buchanan, Jan Deligans, Karen ET, Lois Fernandez, Terry Fiala, Patricia Fuhrmann, Olgateresa Baigas Gonzalez, Sally Gray, Tyler Hannigan, Sundara Heart, Dan Jacobs, Catalina Justiniano, Sandra Kinchen, Angela Marinari, Jan Nelson, Vera Neel, Miles, Smith, and Leolyn Wood. 

To see other works by TAC members on display here, or those unable to join us in the show, please stop by the Gallery: 106a Paseo del Pueblo Norte, Taos. 7 days a week. 10-6pm. Call: 575.751.7122.