Privacy Portraits at Proof of People
During July 6-8 at Proof of People, Ania Catherine and Dejha Ti opened the ‘Operator Atelier’ where they created Privacy Portraits, Lot 01 of their Privacy Collection. Merging durational performance, installation, and chance operations, artists created anonymized portraits of the collectors.
Digital art through physical memory
As web3 site-specific works, Privacy Portraits speak to the desire to hide within transparent systems and nod to select mechanisms of the PFP while bringing slowness and analog algorithms to the digital portrait. The portrait is a visual pseudonym of sorts, allowing the collector to be represented without being exposed.
The sitter is opting into a mysterious portrait that both represents them and masks them. This idea of being an ‘Unknown sitter’ by choice would be unthinkable in other historical periods as it almost contradicts the definition of a portrait itself. However now, an anonymized portrait seems desirable, almost logical. What does that say about the current state of privacy?
Each collector was individually guided through a performance installation, being photographed, rolling dice, delivering their developing portrait in a security box directly to the anonymization desk.
Chance operations were used to determine which anonymization techniques were used on each portrait.
Building upon the duos’ established experiential practice, the process of creating each portrait involves physical memory–a culmination of feelings, interactions, and connected moments in time.