The Great Indecision Council, 2018

Romain Tardy’s The Great Indecision Council (2018) is a minimalist audiovisual installation that spells out our most frequently searched words on the internet on a large-scale light and sound sculpture.

By displaying real-time local search terms from Google and Google News, the artwork explores how big data has become integrated into our lives, as we privately communicate our desires to network systems on personal devices. Erected on the plains of Wadi Hanifah, the installation comprises lightweight aluminum structures arranged in a 25-meter circle, each grid-like module lined with LED tubes.

Visitors are invited into the center of the work to observe a dynamic interplay of light, complete with an immersive sound system and computer-generated chants. As Tardy’s council reveals what we search for in private, it forces the viewer to stare into a digital self-portrait in public and reckon with the disparity between our true and ideal selves.