Browser-friendly art

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Terry Nguyen, Dirt's senior staff writer, interviews Maya Man, an artist and programmer.

I was first introduced to Maya Man’s art through Glance Back, a Chrome extension that she programmed to randomly snap a webcam photo once a day when a new tab is opened. Glance Back catches the user by surprise and, in many ways, accomplishes what BeReal set out to do: capture the authentic self behind the screen. This act reminds users of the computer’s potential for voyeurism, a consistent theme in Man’s work. She is interested in the performance of the self online, a rife topic that extends back to (and probably beyond) Erving Goffman’s theory of human social interaction: Everything is a performance.

In Fake It Til You Make It, a long-form generative art series hosted on ArtBlocks, Man trained an algorithm on posts and captions from popular wellness Instagram accounts to produce 700 distinct, pastel-hued affirmations. On first glance, the bold, sans-serif type and succinct copy bring to mind a type of graphic made popular by Canva: made-for-Instagram advertisements that function as a call-to-action (action in the form of a share), typically about a social issue or a newsworthy event.

I was, however, immediately drawn to the FITYMI collection’s exaggerated femininity and dollhouse aesthetics, a common style across Man’s other works and digital footprint. The eager girlishness of Man’s virtual artist persona exemplifies the internet as an earnest space for play; it also invites the viewer to parse the irony and inherent silliness of existing online.

I spoke with Man about her upcoming projects, her artistic practice, and algorithmic chance in generative art. Our conversation has been edited for clarity.

Terry Nguyen: Since you’re wrapping up your MFA in Media Art at UCLA, what plans do you have for the summer?

Maya Man: I’m taking part in this auction taking place at this Christie’s summit, in partnership with Gucci, so there are a bunch of artists with pieces that are semi-related to fashion. After that, I have a solo London show in September with this group called Verse. I’m making a long-form generative series, which is similar to the Instagram graphics I made last year. This one will be focused on horoscopes, personality quizzes, and quiz culture online.

TN: Have there been any changes to how you’ve approached making work now that you have more time?

MM: My interests have stayed relatively consistent throughout grad school, specifically about performance of the self online and how we create an identity around what we consume. The last project I did for my thesis was actually analog. It was a series of quilts I made by hand. In a lot of my work, I’m using a collage system. I bring together media that I’ve sourced from across the internet, putting it together on a single plane to try and understand how it interacts with each other. I realized that quilting as a medium, specifically patchwork, requires you to take source materials, cut them up, and put them on a single plane to create a new object. It relates a lot to how I think about the internet. It was a very new exploration for me, learning how to make a physical object versus a digital one. But software is still the core of what I do.

TN: I love collages, and I have a theory that everyone online is a collagist. Can you share any details about the solo London show?

MM: The series is going to be called “I’m Feeling Lucky,” named after the Google button. I’m interested in randomness, which is crucial to generative art. Since the popularization of NFTs, collectors have become more aware of the sense of chance involved in minting a project. You don’t know exactly what it is you’re getting. The process is similar to the origin of the Google button. In participating, there’s this implicit trust you place in the algorithm or the system to give you what you want. I find that’s also related to how we treat horoscopes or personality quizzes online. There’s an element of randomness to these interactions that isn’t precise at all. I’m excited by finding meaning in chance.

TN: Where do you go online to discover this algorithmic randomness?

MM: I spend a lot of time on the are.na explore page! It’s a rare remaining time-based feed and I always find blocks that unexpectedly relate to my interests or current research. The TikTok filters that let you take a quiz by tilting your head are my current favorite personality quiz manifestation. I just took one that asked me flamingos vs. owl, milkshake vs. lemonade, etc. Eventually, it told me my personality is EMPATHETIC. It’s randomness plus character categorization plus live reactions plus face tracking: hyper-contemporary identity culture.

Also, this is not a website, but living in LA I spend a lot of time in the car, and I pretty much only listen to the radio. I love that I don’t know what will be playing when I release my agency to the DJs at KCRW 89.9FM.

TN: With solo shows, I assume you have more control over how pieces are seen. How are you thinking about display with both physical and digital works?

MM: I always think about how to translate the work that I’m doing from a browser, a digital space with open access, to a physical space. I think it’s necessary for digital art, so that people can experience the work outside of their home or off their devices. Quilting has led me to think about attention spans. I really love the experience of being in a gallery, walking around with a friend, and coming back around to pieces you like. It creates a prolonged experience that won’t happen in a digital setting.

TN: As an artist who depends on the blockchain to sell most of your work, you’ve seen firsthand the ups and downs of the NFT art market. Have you thought about making work that can be more traditionally collected?

MM: Unlike traditional artists, I think generative artists operate a lot more, structurally speaking, like musicians. When a musician releases new music, they have tour tickets, which are somewhat reasonably priced and fans can feel like they're directly supporting the artist. I really enjoy how I can produce a generative piece, like FITYMI, with 700 editions, so that potentially 700 people versus one collector get to experience and own my work. I want my practice to be expansive. Sometimes, it does make sense to make a physical item, maybe a sculpture or an installation that's able to operate in more of a traditional way. Other times, it makes more sense for me to release a project in the form of an NFT. I am wary of being pushed too far in one direction or the other.

TN: What have you been reading lately? Are there any shows you’ve enjoyed seeing?

MM: I just finished Mercury Retrograde by Emily Segal. It’s about horoscopes and auras and these contemporary systems that we rely on to make sense of who we are, which is related to what I’ve been working on. I picked it up after going to a talk Segal did, and I’ve always been interested in her trend forecasting work with K-Hole. I’m also reading Miranda July’s No One Belongs Here More Than You. It continually surprised me with how absurdist the situations were, yet it was straightforward in its language.

With shows, I’ve been to the Coded show at LACMA a couple times, which explores the history of computer art from the 1950s to 1980s. Near there is a gallery called Sprüth Magers, where the artist Martine Syms has a show up. I’m really inspired by how she’s able to pursue so many different mediums and adopt different identities across her practice. She’s a filmmaker, a DJ, a clothing designer. I really liked how this traditional gallery show weaves together everything she’s done.

MIXTAPE

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• Leo Kim on posthumanism discourse, and the chimera vs. the cyborg. (Cleveland Review)

• 🎵 “Champagne Shit” from Janelle Monae’s latest album, The Age of Pleasure.

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