A 7-episode video installation series based on interviews with internet content moderators. The interviews were conducted in collaboration with journalist Adrian Chen as part of a year-long investigation. The videos are available to watch on DIS.
The interviews were reenacted by several actors, who filmed themselves at home using their phones.
Each video is displayed on the back of a customized office desk from the same brand used at Facebook’s Berlin moderation center, where the interviewees worked.
To share their stories, we adopted the aesthetics of fake makeup tutorials—commonly used on social media to bypass censorship.
Serious discussions on topics such as violence, sexual abuse, hate speech, and terrorism are continuously interrupted by makeup tips. Makeup, which conceals imperfections on the face, parallels content moderation: a process that “beautifies” the internet by removing undesirable content.
Screenshot from “Ep.1 Greek Market”, featuring Bobbi Salvör Menuez
Screenshot from “Ep.2 Italian Market”, featuring Ruby McCollister
Screenshot from “Ep.3 Arab Market”, featuring Jake Levy
Screenshot from “Ep.4 Turkish Market”, featuring Irina Cocimarov
Screenshot from “Ep.5 English Market”, featuring Jesse Hoffman
Screenshot from “Ep.6 Greek Market”, featuring Alexandra Marzella
Screenshot from “Ep.7 Spanish Market”, featuring Bramble Trionfo
Commissioned by KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin.