excerpt from Trying To Be A Perfect Circle
2017
single channel audio
4 minutes, looping
Trying To Be A Perfect Circle is a single-channel looping audio piece that explores the nature of language, digital mediation, and algorithmic logic. Presented as a continuous loop, the audio features a computerized voice alternating rapidly between pairs of words, circling back to the word with which it began. The process originates with a word generated by the computer—here, “Architecture”—and then unfolds through a structured “conversation” between human and machine. Using a digital thesaurus, the artist selects each word’s first associated synonym in response to the computer’s suggestion, while the computer provides its own synonymic association, generating a back-and-forth exchange.
The project creates a closed loop, or “perfect circle,” that returns to its point of origin after a journey of algorithmic associations, raising questions about the circular nature of meaning within digital systems. The repetitive structure and synthesized voice draw attention to the limitations and quirks inherent in machine-generated language, emphasizing how meaning can erode or shift as it loops endlessly. By reducing language to a sequence of calculated associations, Trying To Be A Perfect Circle reflects on the limitations of algorithmic interpretation, inviting viewers to consider how the digital mediation of language affects communication and understanding in a world increasingly shaped by automated systems. Cyclical in nature, cyclical in machine.
2017
single channel audio
4 minutes, looping
Trying To Be A Perfect Circle is a single-channel looping audio piece that explores the nature of language, digital mediation, and algorithmic logic. Presented as a continuous loop, the audio features a computerized voice alternating rapidly between pairs of words, circling back to the word with which it began. The process originates with a word generated by the computer—here, “Architecture”—and then unfolds through a structured “conversation” between human and machine. Using a digital thesaurus, the artist selects each word’s first associated synonym in response to the computer’s suggestion, while the computer provides its own synonymic association, generating a back-and-forth exchange.
The project creates a closed loop, or “perfect circle,” that returns to its point of origin after a journey of algorithmic associations, raising questions about the circular nature of meaning within digital systems. The repetitive structure and synthesized voice draw attention to the limitations and quirks inherent in machine-generated language, emphasizing how meaning can erode or shift as it loops endlessly. By reducing language to a sequence of calculated associations, Trying To Be A Perfect Circle reflects on the limitations of algorithmic interpretation, inviting viewers to consider how the digital mediation of language affects communication and understanding in a world increasingly shaped by automated systems. Cyclical in nature, cyclical in machine.