Max Kawula

My art practice revolves around a distant future of society that is overrun by the growth of private corporations. I incorporate familiar concepts or technologies like AI, government tracking, or crypto currency, and turn them into a parody of their worst case scenarios. I don’t fear the technology, but I do fear the negligence of the people in charge. I try to unglorify the technology to avoid sensationalization of my concerns.

Technology has been progressing exponentially in recent years, and much of it is beyond the understanding of the common person. The United States government has not been able to properly regulate the use of technology because of a lack of information and awareness. Most information our representatives receive comes from lobbyists, who are essentially spreading misinformation. Without even knowing it, we have been giving away bits of our freedom in exchange for services, whether it be video, social media, or online shopping. My latest project, Unanimous, explores a reality where government is privately owned. In this project, I hope to raise concern over what is at stake when a nation favors the growth of private-business over their own welfare. The freedoms we have right now aren’t guaranteed to last forever.

As a digital artist, much of my work involves researching and learning new tools or software to create content. I always want to expand my range of tools, and I’ll let the technology lead me part of the way when creating something. I’ve done this in futureMEME where I used an xbox kinect to motion capture myself so I could animate two characters.

https://max-kawula.github.io/unanimous/