Death by GPS by Salvatore Vitale at Ncontemporary

The artist returns to the gallery spaces two years after premiering his project Decompressed Prism.

Overview

Death By GPS is a series produced with the support of the MAST Foundation in 2023; it gathers videos, photographs, and installations which delve into issues such as labor exploitation, the gig-economy, and automated processes within the context of post-capitalism. The project primarily focuses on South Africa, specifically the Gauteng region. This location was chosen because historically it has been the center of imperialistic dynamics and labor exploitation due to its vast mining reserves. Today, Gauteng hosts many freelance workers in the IT field who operate for Western companies within the gig-economy system.

Salvatore Vitale (head professor of Mediae 2024/25 Online Masterclass On Transmedia Storytelling) analyzes how automation biases shape the relationships between individuals, labor and social structures that generate new forms of exploitation. The project explores the ongoing social and economic shifts influenced by technological developments and draws parallels with the historical exploitation of workers in the mining sector.