Conditions of Presence

Conditions of Presence is a four-part video and installation series exploring how emotions are transformed, processed, and absorbed within contemporary data systems. The project traces a progressive shift: emotions transition from lived experiences into measurable inputs, evolve from data storage into infrastructure governance, and ultimately develop into subjects voluntarily participating in this logic. Throughout the series, emotion is not presented as narrative or confession, but rather as a structural condition that can be captured, preserved, analysed, circulated, and optimised.

Here is the video link for the work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqi5Wzu1OPc

I. Conditions of Presence：Decay, this work presents a system that stores emotional statements which gradually deteriorate over time. Texts fade, overlap, fragment, and become illegible. What begins as clarity turns into residue. The piece questions the assumption that data preserves experience. Instead, it reveals that once emotion is translated into information, it loses context, nuance, and embodied presence. Memory becomes distortion. Storage becomes erosion.

II. Conditions of Presence：Closed Loop, in this part, visitors are sensed — their presence, proximity, or physiological signals are registered by the system. Yet no meaningful response is returned. Emotion is detected but not acknowledged. Interaction occurs without reciprocity. The work exposes a structural asymmetry: contemporary systems do not require understanding; they require input. The human subject becomes legible but remains unheard.

III. Conditions of Presence：Infrastructure, here, emotion is no longer treated as content but as infrastructure. It functions as input, resource, and circulating unit within a broader network. Visual flows, abstract metrics, and systemic patterns replace individual expression. Emotion becomes operational. This stage suggests that affect has shifted from private interiority to economic and computational material — something that sustains platforms, markets, and governance mechanisms.

IV. Conditions of Presence：Digital Meditation, the final work marks a crucial transition. The visitor is invited to sit, breathe, and “meditate.” Their calmness is quantified in real time, generating a fluctuating “calm index.” However, the index never fully stabilizes. The system continuously demands improvement. In this environment, meditation is no longer an escape from control structures. It becomes integrated into them. Inner stillness transforms into performance. Calm becomes measurable productivity. The work suggests that contemporary power no longer operates primarily through repression, but through optimization — encouraging subjects to regulate themselves in alignment with systemic metrics.

Together, the four works form a progression: 1. Emotion is stored and deteriorates. 2. Emotion is sensed but not reciprocated. 3. Emotion becomes infrastructural. 4. Emotion is voluntarily produced within systems of evaluation. Conditions of Presence proposes that in algorithmic environments, the most intimate aspects of human experience are not simply captured — they are reorganised. What was once internal becomes operational. The series does not stage technological spectacle. Instead, it reveals a quiet transformation: how subjectivity itself adapts to the logic of measurement.

Simultaneously, the work incorporates a single stick of genuinely burning incense. It is neither decoration nor ambiance; it is the physical event occurring within the space, creating a stark contrast. The incense's existence is irreversible and irreplicable, its smoke, ashes, and process of dissipation unfold authentically within time. This resonates with the simulated decay within the system—where text fades, overlaps, fragments, and ultimately vanishes, as an embodied material residue, reveals dimensions of time and existence beyond the reach of digital systems.

The seed rattle is introduced as an interactive installation element. Traditionally used in rituals or music, the rattle produces a subtle rhythmic sound that guides attention. In this work, this traditional meditation tool contrasts with the “Calm Index” displayed on the screen. The rattle's sound becomes an uncontrollable sensory disturbance, highlighting how digital systems cannot fully quantify spirituality and bodily perception. It retains its traditional symbolism while serving as a reference for the unquantifiable.

Decay —— Temporal Dimension Closed Loop —— Relational Dimension Infrastructure —— Spatial Dimension Digital Meditation ——Subject Dimension. This constitutes a theoretical closed loop. It raises a question: Can emotions still be considered emotions when embedded in technology?