2018
USB P2P (screensaver)
USB P2P (chain)
USB P2P is a series of sculptural works that explores the nature of digital connectivity and its pervasive influence on human interaction. Inspired by "USB Dead Drops"—an offline peer-to-peer file-sharing concept—this project brings the virtual into the tangible, questioning how digital data circulates and how our interactions with information are increasingly mediated by algorithmic decision-making. Through humor, absurdity, and subversion, USB P2P invites viewers to consider the nature of digital connection, autonomy, and the quiet yet pervasive influence of predictive algorithms on our daily lives.
The project features two primary sculptures: USB P2P (chain) and USB P2P (screensaver). USB P2P (chain) is a USB flash drive suspended from the ceiling by a long metal chain. The chain serves as a physical representation of connection while simultaneously suggesting restraint, alluding to our attachment to algorithmically filtered information. On the flash drives are generated .txt files and computational poems created using predictive text technology or natural language generation, mimicking the algorithmically curated content we engage with daily, often without full awareness of the limitations and biases embedded within it.
USB P2P (screensaver), by contrast, takes the form of a cement sculpture embedded with a USB drive. While USB devices are typically portable, this one is anchored in a heavy, immovable block, reflecting the paradox of digital media that is both transient and, in some cases, permanently etched into our cultural landscape. The USB contains a "screensaver" file—a seemingly mundane item—yet, upon download, the viewer discovers it is broken or digitally corrupt, playfully hinting at the subversive notion of "throwing a rock into the machine." This gesture serves as a call to question and disrupt the role algorithms and automation play in shaping our choices and perceptions.
Through USB P2P, travis examines the tension between digital freedom and algorithmic control, questioning our dependency on predictive technologies and prompting viewers to reflect on their autonomy in a world increasingly defined by unseen forces. The project merges physicality and digital ephemerality, inviting viewers to confront the humor, absurdity, and potential resistance that arise in our interactions with technology.
USB P2P (screensaver)
USB P2P (chain)
USB P2P is a series of sculptural works that explores the nature of digital connectivity and its pervasive influence on human interaction. Inspired by "USB Dead Drops"—an offline peer-to-peer file-sharing concept—this project brings the virtual into the tangible, questioning how digital data circulates and how our interactions with information are increasingly mediated by algorithmic decision-making. Through humor, absurdity, and subversion, USB P2P invites viewers to consider the nature of digital connection, autonomy, and the quiet yet pervasive influence of predictive algorithms on our daily lives.
The project features two primary sculptures: USB P2P (chain) and USB P2P (screensaver). USB P2P (chain) is a USB flash drive suspended from the ceiling by a long metal chain. The chain serves as a physical representation of connection while simultaneously suggesting restraint, alluding to our attachment to algorithmically filtered information. On the flash drives are generated .txt files and computational poems created using predictive text technology or natural language generation, mimicking the algorithmically curated content we engage with daily, often without full awareness of the limitations and biases embedded within it.
USB P2P (screensaver), by contrast, takes the form of a cement sculpture embedded with a USB drive. While USB devices are typically portable, this one is anchored in a heavy, immovable block, reflecting the paradox of digital media that is both transient and, in some cases, permanently etched into our cultural landscape. The USB contains a "screensaver" file—a seemingly mundane item—yet, upon download, the viewer discovers it is broken or digitally corrupt, playfully hinting at the subversive notion of "throwing a rock into the machine." This gesture serves as a call to question and disrupt the role algorithms and automation play in shaping our choices and perceptions.
Through USB P2P, travis examines the tension between digital freedom and algorithmic control, questioning our dependency on predictive technologies and prompting viewers to reflect on their autonomy in a world increasingly defined by unseen forces. The project merges physicality and digital ephemerality, inviting viewers to confront the humor, absurdity, and potential resistance that arise in our interactions with technology.