2025
Photograph
Inkjet print on paper, artist frame, 100 x 70 cm
The historical significance of a family photo is used to stage the Microsoft Windows product family as a real family. Thirteen physical computers are each installed with a major version of the Windows operating system (Windows 1.0–Windows 11). The photo is then printed and framed to be presented as a picture on the wall.
The work examines the personification of computers and machines today, especially in the current debate about artificial intelligence. It also questions the gender-neutral interpretation of machines and shows inheritable characteristics. Can computers become a family? Or do they remain a loose collection of electronic devices? Can a product family be compared to a human one? Can a socially recognized method (photo as a medium for remembering and securing identity) be transferred directly to computers and machines, and does it fulfill the same task as in civil society?
In collaboration with the Computer Museum of the Berlin University of Applied Sciences (HTW). Thanks to Andrea Knaut.
