Visible to the User

Visible to the User counters the history of visual technologies meant to be “invisible to the user,” but contains within them a programmed, yet unmarked bias towards whiteness. As automated soap dispensers fail to recognize dark skin or smartphones with facial recognition software cannot register BIPOC users, the racism built into computation and new media isn’t just a glitch that can be resolved with more data. Rather, as scholar Ruha Benjamin suggests, it is part of a “New Jim Code.” Designers and artists in Visible to the User rewrite code languages, operating systems, algorithmic thinking and systems design to make these biases visible to the user. In so doing, they disrupt our present moment and create other ways of being.

Reception: November 2, 5-7 pm