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Big Tech Says Sorry is a suite of projects that explore the relationships between technology, affect, authenticity and reception. These projects mine and interrogate these connections through a focus on the act of apology, the performance of contrition, and the chasm that exists between action and intent. The work hints at discrepancies that arise when emotion is mediated through technology, both in terms of the tools themselves as well as the scale inherent in their current use. It also investigates the specific role that affect plays in the ways in which we consume and relate to the presence of technology in our lives.

My work on these projects stems from a personal interest in the ways in which technology companies are (not) held accountable for their actions in a time where they not only exercise a large amount of control over our day to day lives, but also seem to face no substantive repercussions for mistakes, lapses in judgment, discriminatory actions, and outright bad behavior. The apologies that these companies issue in the wake of data breaches, human relations scandals, and other violations often feel blatantly fake and manufactured. Big Tech Says Sorry examines the ways in which these powerful corporations exploit and misuse affective cues surrounding the act of apologizing in order to maintain the status quo.

The works seen here are one part of the larger series, consisting of 4 posters meant to be installed adjacent to the headquarters of tech companies in major United States cities. Each poster contains a QR code which, when scanned, directs the viewer to a website detailing the myriad actions for which the company should be apologizing.