Eva & Franco Mattes

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The Bots (2020)

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.

 

 

Eva & Franco Mattes, Frankfurter Kunstverein

 

 

 

Eva & Franco Mattes, The Bots

 

 

 

Eva & Franco Mattes, The Bots

 

 

The interviews were reenacted by several actors, who filmed themselves at home using their phones.

 

 

Eva & Franco Mattes, Frankfurter Kunstverein

 

 

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.

 

 

Eva & Franco Mattes, The Bots

 

 

 

Eva & Franco Mattes, The Bots

 

 

 

Eva & Franco Mattes, The Bots

 

 

To share their stories, we adopted the aesthetics of fake makeup tutorials—commonly used on social media to bypass censorship.

 

 

Eva & Franco Mattes, The Bots

 

 

 

Eva & Franco Mattes, The Bots

 

 

 

Eva & Franco Mattes, Frankfurter Kunstverein

 

 

 

Eva & Franco Mattes, Frankfurter Kunstverein

 

 

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.

 

 

Eva & Franco Mattes, The Bots

Screenshot from “Ep.1 Greek Market”, featuring Bobbi Salvör Menuez

 

 

Eva & Franco Mattes, The Bots

Screenshot from “Ep.2 Italian Market”, featuring Ruby McCollister

 

 

Eva & Franco Mattes, The Bots

Screenshot from “Ep.3 Arab Market”, featuring Jake Levy

 

 

Eva & Franco Mattes, The Bots

Screenshot from “Ep.4 Turkish Market”, featuring Irina Cocimarov

 

 

Eva & Franco Mattes, The Bots

Screenshot from “Ep.5 English Market”, featuring Jesse Hoffman

 

 

Eva & Franco Mattes, The Bots, Alexandra Marzella

Screenshot from “Ep.6 Greek Market”, featuring Alexandra Marzella

 

 

Eva & Franco Mattes, The Bots

Screenshot from “Ep.7 Spanish Market”, featuring Bramble Trionfo

 

 

Commissioned by KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin.