the augmented series

Augmented is a series of work that examines our age, in which we are merging with technology in a more intimate way than ever. It has pros and cons of course. On the upside we may receive superhuman prosthetics, vision and hearing. Why mimic what nature has given us when electronics offer us something better?

If we could install extra memory or RAM in our brains, some of us would be the first to line up for some. Robotics and drones are already taking over the dirty and dangerous jobs. Seemingly boring rules based entry jobs in accounting and law are currently being taken over. Medical diagnostics is also greatly advanced by big data and artificial intelligence. Augmented reality will revolutionise learning. This is great because life-long learning is not just a fancy word any longer. We really have to learn all the time and in more efficient ways.

View paintings from the augmented series

On the downside it will make it increasingly difficult to mentally separate reality and fiction. Deep fakes will make us trust nothing and no one. Machine algorithms already impact politics via social media. In the process, whole populations have been polarised into ‘us and them’. There is of course also the idea that singularity is on the horizon. That is artificial intelligence is slowly but surely surpassing us in all heuristic and cognitive abilities. In the process it might make us obsolete, and super intelligence might begin to regard us as inferior beings best relegated to zoos as ring-fenced by technology.