Squanderlust
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
ABOUT CASEY KAUFFMANN
Casey Kauffmann is an interdisciplinary artist working in drawing, installation, video, and a variety of digital mediums. She is a lecturer at the University of California San Diego. Kauffmann was born in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, California in 1989. She lives and works in Southern California and received her MFA from The University of Southern California in 2020 and her Bachelor of Arts from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. Her work has been featured in publications such as Artnet, Artillery, LAWeekly, The New Yorker, I-D Vice, and Hyperallergic. She has exhibited her work nationally and internationally in galleries such as Transfer Gallery, Centro de Cultura Digital, Human Resources, Lyles and King, Coaxial, Arebyte, and more. Kauffmann’s collage Instagram project @uncannysfvalley, which she started in 2014, features digital collage works and GIFs created using only her iPhone. This Instagram account and body of work has been exhibited in many galleries, written about in several esteemed publications, and led to her admission to the MFA program at the University of Southern California.
Midnight Moment is made possible by the Times Square Advertising Coalition, ABC SuperSign, American Eagle, Branded Cities, Clear Channel, Disney Store, Express, Levi's, LG, Luxottica Group S.p.A., Morgan Stanley, Microsoft, New Tradition, Sensory Interactive, Sephora, Sherwood Equities, Show + Tell, Silvercast, Swatch, T-Mobile, and JCDecaux.
Major support of Times Square Arts is provided by Morgan Stanley. Additional program support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature; and public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Additional support for Midnight Moment is provided by Meta Open Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Times Square Advertising Coalition.
Photos by Michael Hull. Video by Tatyana Tenenbaum.