- Artist or Maker
- Michael Mandiberg
United States, Michigan, Detroit, active New York, Brooklyn, born 1977 - Title
- Quantified Self Portrait (Rhythms) [Artist Exhibition Copy]
- Date Made
- 2017
- Medium
- Yearlong sound installation generated by custom Java software from Fitbit and email data collected during a 365-day performance
- Dimensions
- Dimensions variable
- Accession Number
- M.2020.2.AEXC
- Collecting Area
- Contemporary Art
- Curatorial Notes
Michael Mandiberg is known for his work exploring the intersection of technology, culture, and politics. Quantified Self Portrait (Rhythms) is part of a broader body of work examining the Quantified Self movement, which is based on the idea of using quantitative data to gain self-knowledge. This work sonifies a year of the artist’s heart rate data alongside the sound of synchronized alerts from his email inbox for the same time period. Mandiberg uses himself as a proxy to hold a mirror to a pathologically overworked and increasingly quantified society, revealing a personal political economy of data. Installed in LACMA’s Pritzker Garage elevators, the piece recorded data for one full year, from 12:00 a.m. January 1 to 11:59 p.m. December 31, 2017. By presenting a “self-portrait” through quantifiable metrics, Mandiberg investigates the increasing role of data in shaping our understanding of ourselves and society.
Joel Ferree
2025