Inspired by a Middle Eastern saying—that the high-pitched ringing in one’s ear is caused by someone speaking about them—this artwork explores the relationship between the online circulation of gossip and the bodies of those it affects. Drawing from Beckett’s monolog “Not I” and real-time data via social media APIs, the installation shifts the tone of the speech ever so slightly with every new published post that contains specific hashtags which the artist identifies with. In doing so, the work becomes a living embodiment of the proverb, transforming a private, internal discomfort into a sensation experienced publicly. As it responds to the continuous flow of digital information, the work itself becomes an extended body part: a technological organ that senses and encodes online activities
