In an increasingly computerized, interconnected and automated society, the quantitative and the logical emerge as dominant values. Our daily activities and interactions leave a trail — data which are recorded and can be collected, quantified and precisely assessed. In a rewards-based system that seems to derive from a video game, the Chinese government is developing a system of social credits that will allocate points to a person's reputation. In The Rated Republic of China Filipe Vilas-Boas subtly modifies the Chinese flag and alludes to the star-based system of ranking and the radical Chinese system of assigning a social credit score. This process of quantification is today possible everywhere thanks to a multiplicity of platforms which collect our personal data and make a permanent assessment of everything and everyone.
Even if the Social Credit System is a collection of different experiences in more than 40 cities its potential perspective highlights the growing issues related to digital regimes equipped with mass surveillance and influence tools.
Artist: Filipe Vilas-Boas
Year: 2017
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