Malte Sänger

daemon

1.) Geistwesen aus der griechischen Mythologie und Philosophie, das unsichtbar zwischen den Göttern und Menschen agiert. Sie ebenso überwacht, unwissent lich manipuliert und in ihr Schicksal eingreift.

2.) DAEMON - „Disk And Executable Monitor“ ein im Hintergrund unsichtbar ablaufendes Kontrollprogramm, das tief in die Grundstrukturen jeder Kommunika tionssoftware programmiert wurde. Ein DAEMON überwacht, misst, normiert, unterbindet Kommunikation.

Mit mathematischer Präzision umkreisen unsichtbare Maschinen auf vorgegebenen Flugbahnen unseren Planeten. Mit jeder Erdumrundung akkumulieren sie unablässig immer mehr Daten, Bilder und Informationen. Ihr algorithmisches Tagwerk funken sie dann zu ihren Bodenstationen, wenn ihre Flugbahn es zulässt. Keine Bilderzeugung könnte präziser und geisterhaft automatisierter über den Zustand der Erde berichten, keine könnte jedoch weiter von dem Leben auf der Erdoberfläche entfernt sein, als jene dieser Erdbeobachtungssatelliten.

Eine so dicht am Körper getragene Kamera, dass sie selbst die Körperwärme ihres Besitzers aufnimmt, ist in jedem Smartphone verbaut. Sie wird unmittelbarer Zeuge von trivialem, schönen, traurigem, grausamen menschlichen Leben. Sobald der Isolation des internen Speichers entrungen, werden diese Bilder automatisch einem unsichtbaren Räderwerk aus Algorithmen zugeführt. Jene Algorithmen bewerten, vermessen, kategorisieren diese Bilder, um daraufhin postwendend das gleiche mit ihren Erzeugern und Betrachtern zu tun. Im Anschluss verleiten sie zu Kaufentscheidungen, neuen sozialen Kontakten, Radikalisierung, Weiterbildung oder Zerstreuung.

In beiden Fällen reizen mich die unsichtbaren Sphären aus denen die Fotografie entspringt, bzw in die sie übertritt. Es scheint, als ob sie dort, losgelöst von menschlichem Einfluss, ein Eigenleben führen, um dann dem Menschen wieder zu erscheinen, um ihn zu beeinflussen.

DAEMON

2019/2020
24 photographs, 3 texts & smartphone circuit boards
distance steel frames, ca 15in x 40in, ca 15in x 28in, ca 15in x 23in

1.) Spiritual entity from Greek mythology and philosophy acting invisibly between gods and humans. It also oversees, manipulates and intervenes in their fate unknowingly.

2.) DAEMON - „Disk And Executable Monitor“ a control algorithm running silently in the background, programmed deep into the basic structures of any communication software. A DAEMON monitors, measures, standardizes, blocks communication.

With mathematical precision, invisible machines orbit our planet on predetermined trajectories. With each orbit they accumulate more and more data, images and information. When their flight path permits, they transmit their algorithmic routine to their ground stations at programmed intervals. There might be no imagery that could report more accurately on the state of the globe, none could be further away from everyday life on Earth‘s surface.

A camera that is carried so close to the body that it even absorbs the body heat of its owner is built into every smartphone: It becomes a direct witness of trivial, beautiful, sad, cruel human life. As soon as these images have escaped the isolation of the internal memory, they are automatically transferred to an invisible set of algorithms. These virtual machines evaluate, measure, and categorize the content, only to do immediately the same to their creators and viewers. As a result, they tempt people to make purchasing decisions, make new social contacts, radicalize, educate, or distract themselves.

In both cases, I am attracted by the invisible spheres from which photography emerges or into which it passes. It seems as if there, detached from human influence, they are leading a life of their own, only to suddenly reappear and to influence the human being again.

11. February, 2015
sent:
13 Messages
4 Voice Messages
received:
56 Messages
17 Voice Messages

Abortus Completus. She is the last in a hierarchy of information carriers. She feels the lustful palpation of others in the semi-darkness of voyeuristically enjoyed lack of knowledge. Numerous inquiries, voicemails and forwarded screenshots of third party chat messages pelt down on her. Her frequent answering is missing this time. The crude feeling of having to reach the clinic by means of insufficient offline map material is still too present. Her seized account prevented the pleasantly warm passivity of navigation guided by mobile phone data. She will not want to process what she has experienced in the hospital.

27. April, 2015
sent:
18 Messages
0 Voice Messages
received:
7 Messages
0 Voice Messages

The photo of a current newspaper advertisement of the local supermarket sent to him in the morning remains unanswered. Instead of buying the Wiener Würstchen package and rolls for ten euros, she gets a picture of a slot machine late at night. Almost a dozen identical symbols result in a win of more than 150 euros. It won‘t stop her from finally blocking and deleting his phone number.

QHTC PNO7100
S/N: 354109-06-161577-2
Yvonne

Juli 2014 – April 2015
active in: 5 chatgroups, 36 Individual conversations

sent: 27.983 messages total
received: 43.250 messages tota

02. July, 2014
sent:
42 Messages
15 Voice Messages
received:
17 Messages
9 Voice Messages

The complaining insistence in the audio messages of her mother on unproblematic consumption of the diarrhea medication only vaguely penetrates her veiled perception. Her raw and unfinished recorded voice messages reverberate in minute intervals. The early release of her finger from the recording button reinforces the choppy, unfocused impression. Too many were swallowed. Severe headaches will finally paralyze the desire to argue. A diet rich in fibre should alleviate the symptoms in the future. 08:24pm. One says goodbye until tomorrow. It is already late.

27. October, 2014
sent:
24 Messages
5 Voice Messages
received:
11 Messages
3 Voice Messages

The difference in time between receiving the image files sent by him and sending her letter at the time is a little more than four months. She did not keep the promise to present the contents of one‘ s soul to another every week. Without commentary, his photographs show a thumb and index finger with chewed nails, fixing pages of love letters written with violet gel markers on a wooden table. For Dominik, just released from prison and back in possession of his smartphone, there is no place left in the suddenly changed reality.