Like a relentless harvesting machine in high season, reaping the fields lane by lane, the computational process at the core of this work fetches over two billion images—row by row from several large, publicly available image datasets—detects, extracts the objects from each one and writes them to a physical hard drive.
With approximated 380 years of continuous runtime, this act becomes a performative gesture, addressing the complex entanglement of labor in massive data collection and processing—from unpaid or unknowing contributions, CAPTCHA tests, and data marketplaces to outsourced labeling work and the production of the necessary physical hardware. By shifting focus between input and output, computation and machinery, this work tells stories about the objects it represents and the entangled networks of labor and materiality behind the output.
The installation was running from the opening afternoon of Hochschultage 2025 at HfK Bremen in Halle 1 until the closing evening day and night, detecting and saving more than 400.000 objects categorized into the following categories:
[ person, bicycle, car, motorbike, aeroplane, bus, train, truck, boat, traffic light, fire hydrant, stop sign, parking meter, bench, bird, cat, dog, horse, sheep, cow, elephant, bear, zebra, giraffe, backpack, umbrella, handbag, tie, suitcase, frisbee, skis, snowboard, sports ball, kite, baseball bat, baseball glove, skateboard, surfboard, tennis racket, bottle, wine glass, cup, fork, knife, spoon, bowl, banana, apple, sandwich, orange, broccoli, carrot, hot dog, pizza, donut, cake, chair, sofa, pottedplant, bed, diningtable, toilet, tvmonitor, laptop, mouse, remote, keyboard, cell phone, microwave, oven, toaster, sink, refrigerator, book, clock, vase, scissors, teddy bear, hair drier, toothbrush ]
