"Wanna grab a drink with me?" What your online profile says about you

Who would've thought the combination of coffee x alcohol would amount to a delicious espresso martini - always adds spice to a bar menu.

It's interesting to see valuable outcomes of two different elements coming together to create something new. Much like the unexpected mixology of musical composition, coding data, and visual art. Luke Dubois, intertwines all of these disciplines to address societal issues in a creative way. Dubois puts forth his artistic expression that: the way we use technology reflects on us and our culture, and we minimise others to data points at our own peril.

In his artwork, 'A More Perfect Union,' Dubois explores the long narrative as told by the information he learned from millions of online dating profiles. In a comical way, he presents this data in a map, categorising cities down to single descriptive words that were most used in personal biographies. The project ultimately encourages viewers to reflect on the rhetoric of how we describe ourselves online when we want others to find us exciting - all whilst poking a bit of fun.

"With some of the maps, the words are so obvious they’re almost painful. Los Angeles’ word is “acting.” And all around the area, you’ve got all these Hollywood words like “director,” “film,” “blonde” and “career.” - Luke Dubois, 2016

'A More Perfect Union' By Luke Dubois

'Take A Bullet For The City' by Luke Dubois

I stand by Dubois philosophy that: as an artist there is a responsibility to respond to the external issues happening in the world. Social constructs are impacting art and how it is conveyed in new mediums. In online news reports, the spikes of crime rates in New Orleans had risen dramatically, with 391 of these instances being shootings in 2015. These assaults would tragically climb to 485 in 2016. This issue inspired Dubois to put his multidiscilplinary skills to good use in his 21st century digital art piece, 'Take A Bullet For The City.' The artist exploits new technologies in his handgun installation that fires blank bullets in a protective case every time a shooting is reported in New Orleans. This demonstrates how technology, data, and manipulated devices can be used to communicate with spectators in an informative way that is engaging. As an artistic individual I'm inspired by people like Dubois that can create for the purpose of doing social good, challenging ideas, and shaping the way people think and act. Here's some food for thought: Does art imitate life, or does life imitate art?

Make sure to subscribe to Cup of Tech for more posts, next weeks drop will touch on how technology won US politicians their presidencies.