Taking a fictional data-analysis company called Adcredo as her starting point, Holder explores the role that online networks can play in the construction of belief. Holder expands this fictional world to examine the rise of unjust ideologies and fantasies, and how they might affect our worldview. The large scale installation at QUAD sees the gallery transformed into a hellish, nightmare landscape. Embedded into a large imposing rock face – evoking the deep passage of time – are two large projection screens featuring well-known personalities, representing avatars that Holder has worked with across the project. In an adjacent space, a display by the company behind Adcredo; their purpose, according to their website, is to ‘help organisations or bodies implant their ideologies in communities around the world, both on and offline. It’s our vision to support people in being able to connect, network, interact and form an opinion of the world they live in.’ Adcredo’s company website can be seen at www.deepbelief.network - a specially constructed website made by the artist for the project. The work develops a series of avatars that Holder has worked with across the project. CGI talking heads stand in for Kanye West, Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Peter Thiel alongside otherworldly creatures drawn from the artist’s online research into conspiracy theory and synchromysticism. The work exists against a techno-socio-political backdrop of fake news, conspiracy theory, cyber-espionage and political populism.
‘Adcredo’ is a Latin word meaning to put trust in to believe in, or to give credence to.
The exhibition features music by AJA, City and i.o. Graphic Design by Alex Walker. Audio/Visual programming by Matt Woodham. Writing by Bert Preece. The rock face was built by Matthew Tully, with other elements of the installation built by TECH:SQUAD.
'Adcredo' is an expanded project developed across Bloc Projects, Sheffield, QUAD, Derby, Matt’s Gallery, London and the 6th Athens Biennale 'ANTI' (all 2018).
