Vanity Ring
2007. Ring case about 12 x 12 x 8 cm. Acrylic glass, ole-display, microcontroller, glass vitrine, laptop, Internet connection. Update of the ring as a status symbol: shows the number of Google hits you get, when you search for the name of the person who wears it.
Here you should soon see a picture overview of the work
Description
While in earlier times richness and
importance were equal to the amount of money or jewels someone
possessed, in a post information society it's the attention you get
from the worlds people, that counts. Being in people's mind means being
important, whether they think about you in a positive way our not
doesn't matter. And what people have in their mind is what they read in
the media. In the future this will mean, what they read/see on the net.
Every content creator that copies and pastes your name will rise the
value of your virtual mirrored importance. And there is a hard
mechanical algorithm on the net, that extremely objectively measures
your appearance, it's called Google and has already passed the "line of
no return" (Bruce Sterling). In most job interviews the personnel
manager will already use this machine to check your importance and have
a look at the first answers this mirror tells about you. Your mirror
identity strikes back on your chances in the real world.
The Vanity Ring focusses on this development, taking it to an ironic
peak. Rings are well known status symbols, and the included jewel's
weight in carat is a comparable value for the personal ranking of its
owner (the largest two diamonds are in the British crown jewels). The
Vanity Ring doesn't have a jewel, instead it shows the number of hits
one gets, when he searches Google for the name of the person who wears
it, a more adequate value in our time. It is personalized using a
custom software, and after the name is typed the ring will change its
display to show the personal "attention carats", while every night,
when it is inserted into its docking station the ring is reloaded and
updated.
Vanity Ring is a closed medial circuit project, where the ring has
influence on the mass media and the other way round. Since its
publication the number of hits for "Markus Kison" increased temporarily
from 700 to 40.000.
Video documentation
* On
vimeo
*
Quicktime
Related articles
New York Post, 2007/10/14
The Statesman/India (
part 1 &
part 2)
BoingBoing
Makezine
Wired
Gizmodo
Downloads
*
Project PDF
*
Pictures from flickr
You may use the downloads according to this
creative commons license
Credits
Developed in the
Digital Media Class at the University of the Arts Berlin
CURRENT
2009/11/05 - 2009/11/07.
lab.stop, part of
lab30, Augsburg, Germany.
Exhibited work:
Ticker Cross.
2009/04/22 - 2009/10/04.
Bilderschlachten, part of
EMAF 2009, Osnabrück, Germany.
Exhibited work:
touched echo Osnabrueck.
2009/08/19.
Optica Festival La Paz 2009, Cinemateca Boliviana, La Paz, Bolivia.
Exhibited work:
Crucifixion (video documentation).
2009/07/15 - 2009/7/19.
Wearable Technology - Powered Art and Fashion Design, part of
5-days-off,
Netherlands Media Art Institute - Montevideo, Amsterdam, NL.
Exhibited work:
Vanity Ring
2009/05/05 - 2009/05/10.
13th Media Art Biennale WRO - Expanded city, WRO Center Wroclaw, Poland.
Exhibited work:
Vanity Ring.
2009/05/08 - 2009/05/17.
i-Machine,
Edith-Russ-Haus für Medienkunst Oldenburg, Germany.
Exhibited work:
Charming Burka.
2009/04/02 - 2009/04/05.
Pixelache Festival, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki, Finland.
Exhibited work:
pulse (video documentation).
Since 2007/10/3.
Brühlsche Terrasse, Dresden, Germany.
Exhibited work:
touched echo.
2009/2/4 - 2009/2/15.
Japan Media Arts Festival, National Art Center, Tokyo, Japan.
Winner "Excellence Price".
Exhibited work:
touched echo.
Read
interview.
2007/9/5 - 2009/1/1.
Ars Electronica Center, Linz, Austria.
Exhibited work: Commissioned version of
Roermond-Ecke-Schönhauser.
2008/11/8 - 2008/12/28.
Taiwan International Video Art Exhibition, Hong-Gah Museum, Taipei, Taiwan.
Exhibited work:
Roermond-Ecke-Schönhauser.
2008/12/5 - 2008/12/12.
Pixxelpoint Festival.
Nova Gorica, Slovenia.
Exhibited work:
crucifixion.
2008/11/7 - 2008/11/16.
amber'08, Istanbul, Turkey.
Exhibited work:
pulse.
2008/11/15.
This happened #6,
BFI Southbank London, part of the
Onedotzero festival.
Presentation:
touched echo.
2008/11/13 - 2008/11/15.
LAB30 Augsburger Kunstlabor, Augsburg, Germany.
Exhibited work:
Vanity Ring &
Roermond-Ecke-Schönhauser.
2008/9.
Newspaper coverage:
touched echo in
El Mundo (Spain),
Images Magazine.
pulse in
Folha de S.Paulo (Brazil),
2008/9/4 - 2008/10/12.
Prix Ars Electronica,
OK Centrum, Linz, Austria.
Honourable mention.
Exhibited work:
touched echo
2008/04/23 - 2008/05/25.
EMAF 2008,
Kunsthalle Dominikanerkirche / DGB Gebäude, Osnabrück, Germany.
Exhibited works:
Vanity Ring &
Ticker Cross
2008/04/26
Digital Sparks Award 08
touched echo
Presentation during
EMAF 2008, Osnabrück
Honourable mention
2008/05
Re/act Festival
touched echo
Winner category interactive &
special price: residence stay at the ZKM
2008/02
Charming Burka on the web
Spiegel online (german),
Zeit online (german),
heise: telepolis (german),
Boing Boing,
Engadget,
Financial Times (german)
2008/01/30
SEAMLESS 2008
Vanity Ring &
Charming Burka
Boston Museum of Science, USA
2007/11/16
CYNETart 07 encounter
touched echo
Festspielhaus Hellerau, Germany
2007/10/10 - 2007/10/18
VanityRing in the newspapers
New York Post,
Turun Sanomat (Finland),
DN (Sweden),
The Statesman (India),
Courrier (Japan), Il Corriere della Sera (Italy)
2007/10/10 - 2007/10/18
VanityRing on the web
BoingBoing,
Make,
Wired,
information aesthetics,
Gizmodo,
engadged,
ecrans (France),
Ehrensenf (Germany)
2007/10/20 - 2007/11/4
Reviewing the medium
Roermond-Ecke-Schönhauser
artlabs center, Sibiu, Romania
2007/9/7 - 2007/11/3
THE WORLD IS MY IMAGINATION
Roermond-Ecke-Schönhauser
Cube Centre, Manchester, UK
2007/9/5 - 2007/9/11
Ars Electronica 07
crucifixion &
Ticker Cross
NeoAnalogue Exhibiton, Linz
2007/8/13 - 2007/8/16
FILE - Electronic Language International Festival
Roermond-Ecke-Schönhauser
Sao Paulo, Brazil
2007/5/16 - 2007/6/16
International Media Art Biennale
WRO 07
Roermond-Ecke-Schönhauser
Wroclaw, Poland
2007/5/12 - 2007/5/20
Designmai
crucifixion &
Ticker Cross
Galerie Tristesse Deluxe, Karl-Marx-Allee 137, Berlin, 12-20h
2007/3/30
Innovationsforum Interaktiondesign
touched echo &
Still valid tickets
Hans Otto Theater, Potsdam
Presentation
2007/2/27
Pecha Kucha
Still valid tickets
Ballhaus Ost, Berlin
Presentation
2007/1
Page Magazin
crucifixion &
Ticker Cross
Article about sacral design
2006/12/27 - 2006/12/30
Chaos Communication Congress
Roermond-Ecke-Schönhauser
Berliner Congress Centrum, Berlin
2006/11/9 - 2006/11/19
CYNETart Festival
Roermond-Ecke-Schönhauser
Festspielhaus Hellerau, Dresden
Winner "Förderpreis der Säsischen Staatsministerin für Wissenschaft und Kunst"
2006/10/31 - 2006/11/4
Gran Canaria Media Festival
Roermond-Ecke-Schönhauser
Gran Canaria
"Selected Work"
2006/7/21 - 2006/07/23
Rundgang 06
crucifixion
University of the Arts Berlin
2006/7
Page Magazin
Roermond-Ecke-Schönhauser
Article about Digital Sparks
2006/5/12 - 2006/5/21
KunstComputerWerke
Roermond-Ecke-Schönhauser
ZKM, Karlsruhe
2006/5/12
Digital Sparks 06
Roermond-Ecke-Schönhauser
ZKM, Karlsruhe
Winner "Digital Sparks Award 2006"
2006/4/6 - 2006/4/7
React Festival
Roermond-Ecke-Schönhauser
Schloss, Mannheim
2006/3/31 - 2006/4/2
Pixelache Festival
Roermond-Ecke-Schönhauser
Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki
2006/2/24 - 2006/3/5
Japan Media Arts Festival
Roermond-Ecke-Schönhauser
Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography
"Jury Recommended Artwork"
2006/2/3 - 2006/2/7
Transmediale 06
Roermond-Ecke-Schönhauser
Akademie der Künste, Berlin
Award nomination
2005/07/15
Rundgang 2006
Roermond-Ecke-Schönhauser
University of the Arts Berlin
intermediate diplomas
Hello, my name is Markus Kison. I am a so called 'digital media artist'. This website serves as an archive of my works for documentation and inspiration. Some of them relate to social developments, history or poetics. They were created because of great astonishment how much the digital lifestyle has changed my own life. I have exhibited at festivals and in museums e.g. the Ars Electronica, the ZKM or the National Art Center Tokyo. I live in Berlin.
