THIS PROJECT MIGHT CHANGE THE WAY YOU LOOK AT ONLINE RECOMMENDATIONS

Surely everyone has come across the "recommended for you", which is based on your internet history, games and similar products you like as a consumer. 

According to two artists, the algorithms that make-up these recommendations rule the internet – basically algorithms own you – and a new project called 'Signs of the Times' aim to get people to think about their impact.

Scott Kelly and Ben Polkinghorne installed a series of obstructive banners around New Zealand. The installation points out other "locations" where you can find the banners, and the idea behind the project is “to make the point about how omnipresent these ads are on the internet.”

The project began when the two artists noticed how prevalent these "recommendation ads" had become. Kelly and Polkinghorne came up with the project while they were, back home in New Zealand, for their summer break earlier this year. After working with a sign maker in Auckland, they installed the signs themselves, selecting a variety of public locations around the country.

The artists are not trying to make a big, sweeping statement about the role that the internet and its recommendations play in people’s lives, but they did want to call attention to how many of our decisions are essentially made for us. “If the online [world] is making its way more and more into the real world, what does that mean for every other decision in our lives?”

Have a look at the series and indulge in the captivating and simplistic idea of how algorithms are controlling our every-online-move!!