Zoomers (Sov Corps) 2026 – 40 x 40cm, oil, oil pastel, spray paint, acrylic, charcoal, pencil, on canvas
This painting ventures into what is discussed, and how interfaces often use text or images of tweets which the Zoomer or YouTuber reads from. The grid structure remains, video tiles showing faces, backgrounds, blank feeds, but now includes scratched-out charcoal words: “Sov” and “Corps.”
These rough, urgent words appear in what look like shared screen tiles or document windows within the Zoom grid, exactly as someone might share a tweet or article for the group to discuss. The words are carved into the surface, like graffiti or emergency notation, not polished interface text.
The painting now functions on multiple levels simultaneously: it’s the interface (Zoom grid), the participants (sketched figures), and the content of their conversation (Sov Corps – corporate sovereignty, charter cities, Special Economic Zones). The form contains the critique of the form.
“CORPS” appears in the lower right, clearly visible, almost stencil-like. “SOV” integrates into the teal-blue background in the upper right. These are keywords floating through the discussion, terms that keep coming up, that frame the entire conversation.
This connects directly to how alternative news actually works: YouTubers and podcasters constantly share tweets, articles, screenshots, pulling content into their broadcast to analyze and discuss. The interface becomes a collage of sources, a patchwork of references. The painting visualizes that exact process, the grid of faces surrounded by the fragmentary texts they’re parsing together.
These aren’t just portraits of people or platforms, they’re about the circulation of political discourse, the material conditions under which critique happens. “Sov Corps” scratched into a Zoom painting is critique of corporate sovereignty conducted via corporate communication infrastructure, the paradox made visible.
Additional boxes add to the density, the sense of too much information competing for attention. More tiles, more feeds, more fragmentation, but now with textual anchors trying to organize or focus the discussion. The pale yellow ground maintains that almost cheerful interface aesthetic, making the fragmentation and the urgency of the scratched words more poignant, democratic participation simulated while corporate power consolidates.