Squanderlust, Midnight Moment - Times Square Arts
Squanderlust, video collage, 2:50 looping video no sound
February 1–28, 2023 | Nightly 11:57pm – 12am
Photography by Michael Hull courtesy of Times Square Arts
Videography by Tatyana Tenenbaum courtesy of Times Square Arts
If you could take a journey across the Internet, it might look something like Squanderlust. An ethereal, candy colored continuum that includes pixelated rainbows and floating unicorns collaged against hyperreal nature scenes and fragmented ocean views, Squanderlust is compiled by both the artist’s original videos and extensive online scavenging.
A collector of cyber content and Internet histories, Kauffmann’s net-art practice is rooted in the online search and the manipulation of “poor images” — a term coined by artist and writer Hito Steyerl to describe the state of digital content that has passed through an infinite exchange of online economies. Playing with the dynamics of popular exchange and the politics of anonymous global networks, Kauffmann’s worlds are a reflection of our visual culture built upon shared histories, interests, desires, and anxieties.
“For years I have sourced images from Tumblr, Instagram, and Google, accumulating a collection of material from all corners of the internet to create my digital collage works … I aim to create a beautiful universe that is as overstimulating and engrossing as the online rabbit holes I dive into to hunt and gather the materials I use to create my work.”
— Casey Kauffmann