Human Unreadable #14

Custom software, choreographic data, NFT, and Ethereum blockchain, 2023
Private collection

In Human Unreadable the duo Operator (Ania Catherine and Dejha Ti) merge dance, code, photography, and performance to explore the expressive possibilities of the human body within digital systems. At the heart of the work is a choreographic score developed by Catherine with dancers across four cities. It uses simple movements to convey emotional states such as joy or sadness. These human gestures are then encoded as data stored on the blockchain and assembled into generative artworks, along with other generative components that mimic glass and X-rays. The resulting black-and-white images resemble collage and photography techniques like photograms but are composed entirely of code.

Human Unreadable challenges the traditionally rigid values of strict reason embedded in functional design and digital technology. The artists perceive these values as masculine and have said that their aim is to infuse generative art with “emotional vulnerability and human messiness,” taking inspiration from the human body and from pioneering female digital artists.