MARK FARID 2020
MARK FARID
GuestRoomMaribor I 5. 8. 2025
Invisible Voice, by Mark Farid, is an interactive artwork that exposes the hidden infrastructures behind the websites and products we use every day.
The installation features an advertising board equipped with custom sensor technology. As a viewer approaches, the sensor triggers an analysis to identify brands the person is wearing or carrying. These brands are cross-referenced with the Invisible Voice database (drawn from 38+ public datasets), and the screen displays relevant news headlines and images about those companies, creating a subvertising effect. Subvertisements rotate periodically until audience members approach the board, when the display switches to company-specific information—environmental impacts, corporate accountability, lobbying, financial conduct, political leaning, etc.—alongside a network graph showing the links between that company, other companies, and individuals.
The artwork is not a neutral display of information, but a critical lens: a shifting interface that allows audiences to encounter the hidden stakes of ordinary digital life and to recognise their own position within larger structures of power and responsibility.
Exhibited at: International Symposium of Electronic Art (ISEA), FR, 2022. Ars Electronica Digital Arts Festival, AT, 2024. S+T+ARTS Symposium, ES, 2024. Trafaria Digital Art Festival, PT, 2024. Filmed at arebyte Gallery, UK, 2025.
Mobile App
Invisible Voice is a free mobile app that reveals the ethics and business practices behind the products, services, and companies we encounter every day. Using a barcode or logo scan, the app cross-references 40+ trusted open datasets to surface environmental records, lobbying activity, political ties, ownership structures, human-rights practices, and corporate or government accountability. Unlike most responsibility tools, the information appears precisely where it is needed. A barcode scan reveals product specific supply-chain politics; a logo scan shows labour practices, gender-equality scores, political donations, lobbying influence and climate impact. Each company page includes a network graph mapping links to related companies, individuals and institutions, making complex infrastructures legible at a glance.
The app goes beyond transparency by offering clear pathways for action. You can choose to boycott or endorse, switch services, contact your MP, connect with NGOs, charities and legal resources, or support relevant campaigns at the moment of interaction. Built with a privacy-first approach, Invisible Voice minimises data collection and keeps your use of the app separate from personal identity. The app also supports collective action. You can form or join groups organised by issue or location, track milestones, and coordinate actions such as petitions, boycotts or fundraising drives. In this way, Invisible Voice functions as both a personal decision aid and a civic infrastructure, turning scattered acts into coordinated participation.
Browser Extension
The Invisible Voice browser extension brings the same capabilities to everyday browsing. As you visit websites, it draws on the same 40+ datasets to reveal political affiliations, lobbying ties, ownership chains, environmental impacts, financial conduct and media bias across more than 1.5 million sites. Company and organisation pages present scores and context with links to sources, a network graph of relationships, and routes to act. The extension is open-source, privacy-preserving, and available across major browsers, with a Tor-compatible version for repressive or censorship-heavy environments. It enables journalists, researchers, activists and citizens to cross-check narratives, uncover hidden affiliations and take action by supporting campaigns, contacting representatives, collaborating with NGOs or joining collective initiatives, without leaving the page.
Invisible Voice is commissioned by the European Commission, and co-commissioned by MediaFutures, and Open University of Catalonia, and HacTe, in the framework of S+T+ARTS in the City, and Horizon 2020, along with support from University of the Arts London and the GuestroomMaribor.
Invisible Voice (update, August 2025)
ArtworkInvisible Voice, by Mark Farid, is an interactive artwork that exposes the hidden infrastructures behind the websites and products we use every day.
The installation features an advertising board equipped with custom sensor technology. As a viewer approaches, the sensor triggers an analysis to identify brands the person is wearing or carrying. These brands are cross-referenced with the Invisible Voice database (drawn from 38+ public datasets), and the screen displays relevant news headlines and images about those companies, creating a subvertising effect. Subvertisements rotate periodically until audience members approach the board, when the display switches to company-specific information—environmental impacts, corporate accountability, lobbying, financial conduct, political leaning, etc.—alongside a network graph showing the links between that company, other companies, and individuals.
The artwork is not a neutral display of information, but a critical lens: a shifting interface that allows audiences to encounter the hidden stakes of ordinary digital life and to recognise their own position within larger structures of power and responsibility.
Exhibited at: International Symposium of Electronic Art (ISEA), FR, 2022. Ars Electronica Digital Arts Festival, AT, 2024. S+T+ARTS Symposium, ES, 2024. Trafaria Digital Art Festival, PT, 2024. Filmed at arebyte Gallery, UK, 2025.
Mobile App
Invisible Voice is a free mobile app that reveals the ethics and business practices behind the products, services, and companies we encounter every day. Using a barcode or logo scan, the app cross-references 40+ trusted open datasets to surface environmental records, lobbying activity, political ties, ownership structures, human-rights practices, and corporate or government accountability. Unlike most responsibility tools, the information appears precisely where it is needed. A barcode scan reveals product specific supply-chain politics; a logo scan shows labour practices, gender-equality scores, political donations, lobbying influence and climate impact. Each company page includes a network graph mapping links to related companies, individuals and institutions, making complex infrastructures legible at a glance.
The app goes beyond transparency by offering clear pathways for action. You can choose to boycott or endorse, switch services, contact your MP, connect with NGOs, charities and legal resources, or support relevant campaigns at the moment of interaction. Built with a privacy-first approach, Invisible Voice minimises data collection and keeps your use of the app separate from personal identity. The app also supports collective action. You can form or join groups organised by issue or location, track milestones, and coordinate actions such as petitions, boycotts or fundraising drives. In this way, Invisible Voice functions as both a personal decision aid and a civic infrastructure, turning scattered acts into coordinated participation.
Browser Extension
The Invisible Voice browser extension brings the same capabilities to everyday browsing. As you visit websites, it draws on the same 40+ datasets to reveal political affiliations, lobbying ties, ownership chains, environmental impacts, financial conduct and media bias across more than 1.5 million sites. Company and organisation pages present scores and context with links to sources, a network graph of relationships, and routes to act. The extension is open-source, privacy-preserving, and available across major browsers, with a Tor-compatible version for repressive or censorship-heavy environments. It enables journalists, researchers, activists and citizens to cross-check narratives, uncover hidden affiliations and take action by supporting campaigns, contacting representatives, collaborating with NGOs or joining collective initiatives, without leaving the page.
Invisible Voice is commissioned by the European Commission, and co-commissioned by MediaFutures, and Open University of Catalonia, and HacTe, in the framework of S+T+ARTS in the City, and Horizon 2020, along with support from University of the Arts London and the GuestroomMaribor.
GuestRoomMaribor I 10. 03. 2021
Invisible Voice - Advert
GuestRoomMaribor I 10. 03. 2021
Mark Farid; Invisible Voice - PLUGIN (BETA/TEST VERSION)
The Invisible Voice website has been updated, and you can download the plugin for Firefox via the website:www.invisible-voice.com
GuestRoomMaribor I 20. 12. 2020
Mark Farid: Invisible Voice - presentation
SobaZaGosteMaribor I 14. 12. 2020
Mark Farid: Invisible Voice
Vljudno vabljene_i , da se nam pridružite na predstavitvi in zagonu projekta Invisible Voice, aktualnega rezidenta SobeZaGosteMaribor, Marka Farida. Invisible Voice je brezplačen spletni vtičnik, ki vam omogoča, da se o uporabi spletnih strani, ki jih uporabljate, odločate preudarno.Predstavitev bo potekala v aplikaciji Zoom (povezava tukaj: https://zoom.us/j/95036968641), vabljene_i da se nam pridružite! Predstavitev in diskusijo boste lahko v v živo spremljale_i tudi na facebook strani Guest Room Maribor.
Invisible Voice je spletni vtičnik, ki vam med uporabo spletnih strani ponuja informacije o njihovem lastništvu, krovnih podjetjih, sestrskih in hčerinskih podjetjih, politični opredeljenosti, o dobičku, o zadovoljstvu zaposlenih, o pravnem status ter o polemikah in novicah o podjetjih in lastnikih spletnih strani. Spletni vtičnik se dnevno posodablja in prikaže informacije vsakič, ko se stran osveži ali, ko spletno stran uporabnik obišče prvič. Do teh informacij se kadarkoli zlahka dostopa s klikom na ikonico Invisible Voice na ekranu uporabnika. Za prenos spletnega vtičnika se potrebuje manj kot 10 sekund, za namestitev v sistem 2 klika, uporaba pa ne zahteva registracije. Invisible Voice NE uporablja spletnih piškotkov.
Koncept in produkcija: Mark Farid
Oblikovanje in izdelava sistema: Orange
Grafično oblikovanje: Kia Tasbihgou
Razvoj na sprednji strani: Marta Dos Santos
Promo video: Milla Lewis
GuestRoomMaribor I 14. 12. 2020
Mark Farid: Invisible Voice
You are kindly invited to join us for the presentation and kick off the Invisible Voice, “a free plugin that empowers you to make informed decisions about the websites you use” by our GRM resident Mark Farid.You can listen to the discussion live on the Facebook page Guest Room Maribor. Additionally, we shall also provide you with a Zoom link in case you would like to join the discussion (Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/95036968641).
Invisible Voice is a plugin that tells you the owners, parent company, sister and affiliated companies, political leaning, revenue, employment satisfaction, legal status, controversies and news stories about the companies and individuals who own the websites you use, as you are using them.
The plug-in is updated daily, and will display information every time information on a site is updated, or you visit a site on our list for the first time. This information can easily be accessed again, by clicking the Invisible Voice icon on your screen. Invisible Voice takes less than 10 seconds to download, two clicks to install, and NO signup is asked. Invisible Voice does NOT use any cookies.
Concept & Production: Mark Farid
System Design & Build: Orange
Graphic Design: Kia Tasbihgou
Front End Dev.: Marta Dos Santos
Promo Video: Milla Lewis
SobaZaGosteMaribor I 20. 11. 2020
Spoznajte rezidenta Marka Farida
V petek, 20. 11. 2020, ob 19:oo vas vabimo na spletno predstavitev aktualnega gosta rezidenčnega programa SobaZaGosteMaribor, Marka Farida. Posnetek si boste lahko ogledali na FB profilu Guest Room Maribor ali na YouTube kanalu Pekarna Magdalenske mreže.
Mark Farid je umetnik, raziskovalec in kulturni kritik, ki se ukvarja predvsem s presečiščem virtualnega in fizičnega sveta ter z vplivom novih tehnologij na posameznika in njegovim dojemanjem samega sebe. Faridovo delo vključuje hekersko etiko, kot so politike zasebnosti, uporaba nadzornih tehnologij, zbiranje in zaščita podatkov ter kritiko socialnih, pravnih in političnih modelov.
Farid je leta 2014 diplomiral na univerzi Kingston v Londonu z odliko iz Likovne umetnosti, od takrat pa se je pogosto pojavljal kot govorec in sodeloval na skupinskih in samostojnih razstavah v Angliji, Franciji, Nemčiji, Španiji, na Danskem in Finskem, v Sloveniji, Združenih Arabskih Emiratih in na Japonskem. Farid je imel leta 2017 na TEDx-u predstavitev svojih prvih dveh projektov, Data Shadow (2015) in Poisonous Antidote (2016), ter sodeloval v programu »Sundance New Frontier«, (2016) s svojim tekočim projektom Seeing I (2021). Leta 2019 je imel samostojno razstavo na festivalu digitalne umetnosti Ars Electronica ter bil izbran za umetniško rezidenco v okviru programa »European Media Artist Residency Exchange”, 2020/21.
Farid redno predava in izvaja delavnice na vodilnih univerzah, o njegovih projektih pa poročajo mediji po vsem svetu. Pogosto se pojavlja kot govorec na področju umetnosti in tehnologije, pojavil je v Fox News, Sky News, Arte, BBC Radio 4, BBC 5Live, Times Radio, pogosto pa sodeluje tudi z medijem The Telegraph.
Umetnikova spletna stran: https://www.markfarid.com/
Mark Farid je umetnik, raziskovalec in kulturni kritik, ki se ukvarja predvsem s presečiščem virtualnega in fizičnega sveta ter z vplivom novih tehnologij na posameznika in njegovim dojemanjem samega sebe. Faridovo delo vključuje hekersko etiko, kot so politike zasebnosti, uporaba nadzornih tehnologij, zbiranje in zaščita podatkov ter kritiko socialnih, pravnih in političnih modelov.
Farid je leta 2014 diplomiral na univerzi Kingston v Londonu z odliko iz Likovne umetnosti, od takrat pa se je pogosto pojavljal kot govorec in sodeloval na skupinskih in samostojnih razstavah v Angliji, Franciji, Nemčiji, Španiji, na Danskem in Finskem, v Sloveniji, Združenih Arabskih Emiratih in na Japonskem. Farid je imel leta 2017 na TEDx-u predstavitev svojih prvih dveh projektov, Data Shadow (2015) in Poisonous Antidote (2016), ter sodeloval v programu »Sundance New Frontier«, (2016) s svojim tekočim projektom Seeing I (2021). Leta 2019 je imel samostojno razstavo na festivalu digitalne umetnosti Ars Electronica ter bil izbran za umetniško rezidenco v okviru programa »European Media Artist Residency Exchange”, 2020/21.
Farid redno predava in izvaja delavnice na vodilnih univerzah, o njegovih projektih pa poročajo mediji po vsem svetu. Pogosto se pojavlja kot govorec na področju umetnosti in tehnologije, pojavil je v Fox News, Sky News, Arte, BBC Radio 4, BBC 5Live, Times Radio, pogosto pa sodeluje tudi z medijem The Telegraph.
Umetnikova spletna stran: https://www.markfarid.com/
GuestRoomMaribor I 20. 11. 2020
Meet The Resident: Mark Farid
You are kindly invited to join us at the online event where our current GuestRoomMaribor resident Mark Farid Silvia is going to introduce himself and present his work. In a video presentation, he will talk about their selected artworks from the past and "Invisible Voices" - a project Mark will develop while "staying" at the GuestRoomMaribor residency. The event is going to be premiered on GuestRoomMaribor FB page and on Pekarna Magdalenske mreže YT channel on Friday 20th of November at 7 pm (GMT+1).Mark Farid is an artist, researcher, and cultural critic, specialising in the intersection of the virtual and physical world, and the effect of new technologies on the individual and their sense of self. Farid’s work embodies hacker ethics, such as privacy policies, use of surveillance technologies, data collection and protection, and the critique of social, legal, and political models.
Farid graduated from Kingston University, London, with a First Class (Hons) degree in Fine Art in 2014, and has since given talks and participated in group and solo exhibitions in England, France, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Finland, Slovenia, UAE, and Japan. Farid gave a TEDx talk in 2017 about his first two projects, Data Shadow (2015), and Poisonous Antidote (2016), and took part in the Sundance New Frontier program, 2016, for his on- going project, Seeing I (2021). Farid had a solo exhibition at Ars Electronica Digital Arts Festival, 2019, and was selected for the European Media Artist Residency Exchange, 2020/21.
Farid regularly give public lectures and workshops at leading universities, and his projects have been covered by media outlets worldwide. He frequently engages in art and technology conversations, has appeared on Fox News, Sky News, Arte, BBC Radio 4, BBC 5Live, Times Radio and is an in-frequent contributor to The Telegraph.
Artist's web page: https://www.markfarid.com/