‘Apparently Us.’ uses Google AdWords to reveal the categories individuals are placed in, based on their online activity. AdWords are determined from an individual’s Google data and are used to produce personalised ads from their estimated interests.
Intrigued by these supposed and assumed identities, Tarsila Assis visually depicts the digital profile generated by Google by creating a series of portraits that illustrates what Lori Andrews calls the “second self”, that is, “a virtual interpretation of you”. Featuring herself, her mother, stepfather, stepsister, boyfriend and friend, Assis constructed six unique digital portraits, each consisting entirely of the individuals own AdWords.
Assis transforms their data into digital doppelgängers revealing the accurate or mistaken conclusions that the algorithm has made about their identity. Highlighting certain phrases she found interesting or relevant, Assis replicates the algorithm by applying her own perception of each individual to the work.
Using subjects of different ages, genders and ethnicities, Assis seeks to uncover how much our identity influences our online activity, and therefore the way we are seen by algorithms. Assis invites viewers to look closely and immerse themselves in these virtual identities, uncovering the subject’s apparent lives.
