When looking for inspiration I was going through some sites that I have saved and I loaded Jonathan Harris’s website. And up came a brand new project that this visual artist, interaction designer, and storyteller from New York City! It is called I Want You to Want Me. It is an installation piece in the form of a large touch screen at the Museum of Modern Art as part of the Design and Elastic Mind Exhibit. This piece and exhibit opened about eight hours after I left the museum and headed back home on the train, so needless to say I was disappointed to miss it. (I had dragged my friends all the way up to the top floor that day, only to find that something was being installed)

This project takes a look and explores the world of online dating. For more we turn to an excerpt from the projects website.

I Want You To Want Me chronicles the world’s long-term relationship with romance, across all ages, genders, and sexualities, gathering new data from a variety of online dating sites every few hours. The system searches these sites for certain phrases, which it then collects and stores in a database. These phrases, taken out of context, provide partial glimpses into people’s private lives. Simultaneously, the system forms an evolving zeitgeist of dating, tracking the most popular first dates, turn-ons, desires, self-descriptions and interests.

Harris always seems to find interesting topics to cover. And in doing so, he just doesn’t create art, but creates masterful visual experiences which tell stories. That is what I enjoy so much about his work.

Learn more about I Want You to Want Me.
Learn more about Design and the Elastic Mind at MOMA.
See other projects from Jonathan Harris.

(Images and quoted text from Jonathan Harris)