Amalia Lindo’s exhibition Computer Shoulders consists of three identical flat television monitors held at various angles by long black poles protruding from the walls and ceiling, and a single framed photograph of roughly the same size, mounted on the wall. The monitors display three interrelated videos, consisting of visual material which for the most part has been gleaned from YouTube, using an algorithm developed by Lindo in collaboration with data scientist Tim Lynam.
On the first vertically positioned monitor, the viewer is forced over and over through a frenetic barrage of shaking images. At a certain point, it becomes apparent that the same cycle of footage is repeating with variations, landing back periodically at a still frame. At this moment, a mouse pointer appears and moves to select an option from a menu, which starts the cycle again according to another permutation.
The images capture various things: a tilting line of buildings, people standing in open spaces, strange computer-generated grids, and other screens upon which flicker further compressed images. The footage moves so quickly that following the twisting orientation and shaky movements of the camera in relation to its subject matter is more than enough to occupy the eye. Here, Lindo is using another algorithm to automatically edit the footage, based on her own working methodologies.