Google Translations / Cyfieithiadau Google
This work exists in two formats. The first is a series of scrolls (typewriter on fax paper) of various lengths, and the second is video which was my Digital Artist Residency work. They are a record of translations back and forth between English and Welsh using Google Translate. An English word (e.g. “true”) is translated into Welsh, then that word is translated back into English, and so on, with each translation getting further in meaning from the original word. The process ends when the opposite word (e.g “false”) is arrived at.
The advantage and the curse of unlimited digital space and of the network is that every possibility is catered for, and that every interpretation can be found supported somewhere. In a post-truth, fake-news society, how much does range pose a threat to accuracy?
“If you’re searching for support for your views online, you will find it. And moreover, you will be fed a constant stream of validation: more and more information, of a more and more extreme and polarising nature.” – James Bridle: “New Dark Age”
“truth” – “lie” in 26 translations:
“Google Translations / Cyfieithiadau Google” is the basis of a month-long residency on Digital Artist Residency in May 2019, and appears in Impossible Material in June-July 2019.