Tania Sen, Linkedin, Website, Instagram
In 2020, my journey in the arts took a sharp turn as I shifted towards electronic art. This pivot felt necessary, given the rapid evolution of the collective consciousness, especially in response to the series of tumultuous events that unfolded globally. The shocking lead-up to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement was seismic, its ripples impacting not just social spheres, but deeply permeating the arts. The political climate in the U.S., with Trump’s increasingly outrageous claims, mingled with the charged emotions of a nation starved of leadership. This culminated in the 2020 elections, which proved to be a turning point for the country and the world. Philadelphia, where much of this played out, became a hotbed of tension and change.
Relevant works:
Power to the People, documentary video
Higgledy PIggledy, sculpture
Fizzy Dreams, design with type
The chaos, heightened by debates and social media, created an incubator for artistic expression. Among my electronic works during this period were *Color Value*, *We the People*, *Clean Ocean*, and *Revert Climate Change*. Although I toyed with the idea of using these designs commercially, they remained unique, reflecting my desire to keep them personal and one-of-a-kind.
As 2021 unfolded, my attention shifted towards sustainability and environmental issues. After the pandemic subsided, I visited a small tribal village near Kalimpong in the Himalayas. There, I stayed in a cottage built from indigenous materials and met with farmers, an experience that shifted my perspective towards grassroots efforts in sustainability. This was a grounding experience, one that allowed me to connect with the earth and its stewards, forging a deeper understanding of sustainable practices and their gravity.
You can read more about these efforts here:
The Face of Sustenance and
Gravity of Grassroots
In 2022, I moved to California, where I discovered a newfound way to heal. It was a time that required such healing, both personally and collectively. As the world was still reeling from pandemic shockwaves, I turned inward to focus on mending from the inside out. And then came artificial intelligence.
Rather than join the often-polarizing debates about whether AI was “art” or not, I chose to engage with it playfully. What I found was illuminating: the intelligence of many—collective intelligence—has far greater potential than the intelligence of one when it’s directed with intention. However, lurking beneath the surface was always the possibility of a darker force—a monster of sorts, imbued with immense, unchecked power.
Relevant works:
Monstrous Tales
In this AI-driven world, people and their stories have become even more important. This realization birthed a new series of portraits: *Portraits of People and Places*. Each one captured the human experience, weaving personal narratives through a digital lens.
Alongside these portraits, I introduced the *Wide-Eyed Special Characters* (WESCs)—creatures crafted from special keyboard characters. With their distinct forms and personalities, these characters began to inhabit not only my stories but also my performance art videos. The WESCs, visually tactile and compelling, bridge the gap between the real and the imaginary. These simple keyboard symbols—the dollar sign, hashtag, asterisk—became endowed with human traits and concerns. Though predetermined in function, their vast differences in outcome and the possibilities they offered fascinated me. They emerged as cartoon heroes of the digital age, endearing themselves to all who engaged with them, offering narratives of sustainability, conservation, inclusion, and community service.
Relevant works:
Zen Ninja’s Rise to Power…Blue’s Epic Ocean Cleanup
Could these characters, so dissimilar and yet so familiar, be the key to eliminating tired narratives of discrimination and prejudice? Might we learn to embrace those who challenge our version of reality? As we explore these questions, we find ourselves contemplating the boundaries of truth, fiction, and whether binary systems have more dimensions than we previously believed.
With the advent of AI, I found it easier to give form to my thoughts. Perhaps it was the acceleration of consciousness or maybe I had just noticed it. Through AI, I discussed the deep national divide in the U.S., female infanticide in India, and the stretched fabric of human connection across the globe. In this accelerated age, I realized that art was not only a means of expression but a mirror of the broader, complex conversations taking place around us.
Relevant Works:
Body Wash, Performance art videoAre You My Father Figure?AI expressions
Ode to Natural Selection, Ai expressions
Finally, let’s consider the shifts in how people engage with each other across genders. In the United States, the so-called ‘incel’ phenomenon involves the rejection of the opposite sex based on the belief that their genetic makeup renders them unsuitable for finding a partner. Meanwhile, in Korea, the 4B movement emerges as a response to unrealistic beauty standards and a lack of respect from romantic partners. Interestingly, these elements appear to manifest universally in various ways.
Relevant Works:
Modern Minhwa, AI expressions