The Self Made Between Algorithms and Flesh

The exhibition title, The Self Made Between Algorithms and Flesh, designates the hybrid space in which contemporary identity is formed: a self constructed between code and flesh, between the artificial and the corporeal, between simulation and lived experience. “Algorithms” represents artificial intelligence and the systems that analyze, predict, and generate realities, subtly shaping the way we perceive ourselves and are perceived. “Flesh” evokes physical presence, vulnerability, emotion, and immediate experience, the anchoring point of our ephemeral existence.

In today’s world, technology is no longer just a tool, but a medium that shapes our perception of self and others, redefining the boundaries between the real and simulation, between what is living and what is digital. Algorithms do not just analyze, predict, or generate information: they intervene subtly in the way we define our identity, in the way we are seen and how we see ourselves. At the same time, the body—vulnerable, fragile, and ephemeral—remains the place of immediate experience, of physical presence and emotion, a point of resistance and anchoring in the face of the constant flow of data and simulations.

In this exhibition, the artists’ works resonate with this tension. Tăițel Ticălos explores the anxieties generated by algorithms through a system of references that combines superstition and technology, bringing back to the forefront the idea of our vulnerability before an invisible digital eye that observes, shapes, and judges. Cezar Mocan imagines an emerging community, more than human, that interacts with an industrial and natural landscape, exploring how AI entities can be integrated into complex ecosystems and infrastructures, provoking reflections on the relationship between nature, technology, and collective identity.

Flavius Coman investigates the direct relationship between the visitor and the algorithm, highlighting how easily an individual’s identity can be reconstructed through artificial intelligence. The work raises questions about consent, privacy, and what it means to be “ourselves” in a world increasingly shaped by code and simulation. In opposition, Andreea Cristina Mircea brings the body, heart, and intuition back to the foreground, exploring the ephemeral and imperceptible moments that punctuate daily life. These moments, though short and almost invisible, gain meaning and depth through interaction with the environment, with others, and with our memory, offering a return to authenticity after the visual and digital oversaturation of daily life.

At the center of this discourse lies the idea of hybridity: contemporary identity is no longer a static construct, but a continuous process, mediated by technology, yet still anchored in corporality, in vulnerability, and in the ephemeral moments that give consistency to our experience. The collected works explore different dimensions of this hybridity: from the female/femme body reconstructed by AI and the vulnerability of digital exposure, to the way more-than-human communities can be imagined or simulated, to the fragility of the moments that define our experience.

The exhibition raises questions about the nature of identity and our relationship with technology: what does it mean to be authentic in a world where algorithms shape our perception and behaviors? How does the body remain a place of resistance, experience, and vulnerability in the face of the digital? What are the ephemeral, almost invisible moments that give meaning and depth to the human experience and that cannot be replaced or simulated by algorithms?