Do we use social media—or does it use us?

That’s one of the fundamental questions posed by artist Dave Cicirelli in a series of works produced in different media—including social media, in real time—over the past decade. He creates what he calls “experiential art” because the audience must interact with it rather than passively contemplate it in order to make sense of it. …

Cicirelli’s work forces us to contemplate: Why is there so much fakeness in a world that places so much value on authenticity and transparency? How do we maintain our individuality when social media algorithms group us into simplistic categories and tribes? And has technology become a substitute for reality rather than something we use to express our true selves?

[In many ways, we’re the product in social-media platforms, not the customer. But even apart from that, we orient ourselves toward individuality as a value, but in identity groups as a survival practice. There’s nothing new about that. The online world only makes those impulses easier to serve. As well as other impulses that are more destructive and nihilistic, for that matter. — Ed]