Artist's Statement

In “Outsized Effects,” artist Chris Combs uses his interactive, electronic artworks to consider the extreme amplification of power.

Consider the Arecibo message, a real-world radio transmission sent “to aliens” at the star cluster Messier 13 in 1974; it will not reach its destination until 25,000 years from now. A response would take at least another 25,000 years at the speed of light.

What is it like to make a decision that could change the lives of people fifty thousand years in the future?

Or to make a product decision about a platform like Facebook, used by a billion people on Earth: what is it like to have such a powerful lever to pull?

“Outsized Effects” dwells in these power imbalances: small actions with unfathomably large implications.

The show centers around “Allegheny Data Company,” a large, interactive installation that compares the harvesting of consumer data to the extraction of coal. Inspired by the shape of a Davis Coal & Coke Company tipple from Thomas, the “Allegheny Data Company” has myriad objects that can be controlled by viewers—and one big surprise.

Included Works

Exhibition Images

View of the exhibition, 'Outsized Effects'

View of the exhibition, 'Outsized Effects'

View of the exhibition, 'Outsized Effects'

View of the exhibition, 'Outsized Effects'

View of the exhibition, 'Outsized Effects'

View of the exhibition, 'Outsized Effects'

View of the exhibition, 'Outsized Effects'

View of the exhibition, 'Outsized Effects'

View of the exhibition, 'Outsized Effects'

View of the exhibition, 'Outsized Effects'

View of the exhibition, 'Outsized Effects'

View of the exhibition, 'Outsized Effects'

View of the exhibition, 'Outsized Effects'

View of the exhibition, 'Outsized Effects'

View of the exhibition, 'Outsized Effects'

View of the exhibition, 'Outsized Effects'

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