Premium
Connect
In Defense of the Poor Image
WELCOME TO THE
COMMON GROUND
biological and esoteric systems
spiritual connections as communication networks
"The poor image embodies the afterlife of many former masterpieces of cinema and video art."
"It [...] defies patrimony, nationalculture, or indeed copyright."
"Poor images show the rare, the obvious, and the
unbelievable – that is, if we can still manage to
decipher it."
- HS
"Resolution was fetishized as if its lack amounted to castration of the author."
"a study of dynamic networks from artificial,spiritual, and biological environments"
HITO STEYERL
TABITA REZAIRE
SOURCES
"Poor images show the rare, the obvious, and the
unbelievable – that is, if we can still manage to
decipher it."
- HS
A bad picture is a blurred, pixelated copy that is widely available on the Internet. Although it loses quality, it reaches many people. These images spread quickly as memes, thumbnails or copies, challenging the notion that only perfect, high-resolution images are valuable.
There is a kind of hierarchy among the images:
The high-resolution images are considered privileged - sharp and impressive. Poor images, on the other hand, belong to the underclass - often of poor quality and copied. But it is precisely these images that show how the Internet makes art and culture more accessible.
In the past, many films and works of art disappeared because they did not generate enough income. Today, they are reappearing - but in poor quality - because people are sharing them online. These bad images help to make art and films accessible to everyone.
Bad pictures bring people together. It's not about them being perfect, but about them being shared. They are part of a digital culture where sharing is more important than flawless quality.
In the end, bad pictures show what the internet is really like - chaotic, creative and full of possibilities.
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"Premium Connect" by Tabita Rezaire is an art project that deals with the connection between technology and African spiritual systems. It examines how African spiritual systems, such as the Ifa system of the Yoruba, could have influenced modern information technology.
It questions whether technology may only be of European origin and shows how a possible influence of spiritual and biological systems may be present in technological processes.
The project also deals with the connection between body, mind and technology. Rezaire calls for harmony between these aspects.
"Premium Connect" has been shown in major exhibitions such as the Berlin Biennale and the Tate Modern.