Fauxonomy

Fauxonomy is the title of a new suite of works by artist and research Tracey Meziane Benson. It derides its title from a range of sources: by playfully subverting the meaning of taxonomy, which is defined as a hierarchical method of classification; 'Faux' in the French language means fake or untruth; and Folksonomy is a term used to describe social networks.

The irony of Fauxonomy is that the source material is of a factual and scientific nature, but by way of constructing a fictitious narrative the authenticity of the information is challenged.

It builds on an earlier interest in museums and technology that was presented in Museum of the Future in Australia, USA and the UK (1997 – 1999).

Fauxonomy is about classifying content and code, by using CSS and HTML as a visual mode to communication information about fictitious content, a loop is created whereby the information informs the image and the code also influences that process.

Shifting Territory is the first prototype project to be presented in Fauxonomy. It explores the ocean cartographies around Australia’s land fall. Fishing boundaries, exclusion zones, Marine Protected areas are just a small example of these invisible boundaries that define the ocean as a place..