“Mind Your Ts & Ds (2018)” was a narrative installation exhibited as part of Deptford X Festival’s curated exhibition “Gold X”. It discusses how the journey of measurement has been fettered with absurdity, from the moment man has tried to fix nature into measurable absolutes. The installation touches on one of earliest modes of measurement, the cubit: an ancient unit of length based on the length of the presiding Egyptian pharoah’s forearm, from his elbow to the tip of his middle finger. It explores the writing of Karan Barad in her article “What Is the Measure of Nothingness?” and the philosophical questions raised in quantum measurements.
I’m interested in how all systems of measure are entrenched in hierarchical power structures. Is not all measurement determined by those in control of the data? And those who create the instruments of measure? Some intentions of measure seek to serve the structures as we see in the Social Credit System used by the Chinese government to rank its citizens and to a lesser degree, the financial credit system in western societies. Does not all measurement have inherent vice? Algorithms are created by men so there is an inherent bias. However, measurement itself seeks to be an objective process. I'd like to explore the tension between the two.