BODY CODE
Body Code is an art project where the artist’s latex suit contains printed QR codes that the public can scan with their smartphones. The QR codes on the suit redirect the viewer to the website where they can see data found on the web about the body.
Body Code responds to our relationship with data in the age of the internet. With the abundance of information available, we often prioritize scanning for information over looking into the details. The word “scan” used to define an action related to our physical body, but now it is apart of our digital vocabulary, describing our interactions with the Internet. This performance reflects on this phenomenon by showing our obsession with data, this often leads to a loss of the physical body. By encouraging the public to scan Trenda’s latex suit, the work comments on how the flesh body is disappearing due to our virtual obsession of information.
For more than a decade, the Body Code project has remained a dynamic and continuously evolving performance piece, adapting to shifts in the ever-changing Internet. The intention is to contemplate how, in the era of abundant online data, we can reestablish a meaningful connection with our own bodies and the world around us. Recently, the artist employs ChatGPT to engage in a dialogue with the AI program, delving into inquiries regarding the human body and the impact of artificial intelligence on it. Can AI be a reliable source of information about the body, or does it possess the potential to propagate falsehoods, at times resembling a mere tape recorder parroting inaccurate data?
Body Code premiered at the Scope Art Fair in Basel, Switzerland and has been performed at various locations and events, such as the A+D Museum, Wynwood Art Fair, Zero1 Biennial, Perform Chinatown with Charlie James Gallery, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Art Center Nabi in South Korea, Creative Tech Week in New York, Women in Steam, LA Mobile Arts Festival, Context Art Fair, Art Miami, Exploratorium: The Museum of Science, Art & Human Perception, and during the 2023 ARS Electronica. For a full list of exhibitions, please see the about section.
