Since the scientific revolution there has been
a tendency to suppose that only things that can be measured really exist,
validating the quantifiable and occluding the intangible. Originating from this
pretext, Troika’s dice works are a reflection on technological acceleration,
predetermined choices, and the autonomy of algorithms.
‘Reality is not always probable’ is an image
constructed from thousands of white dice which follows a pattern generated,
line by line, by a simple computer binary program. The title, a quote by Jorge
Luis Borges, emphasizes a disbelief in the measurable, mathematical laws of
nature as the only model of truth and men’s disquiet towards a lack of
controllable or predictable events.
Troika’s dice works reference the historical
use of dice as a means of determining fate, chance and luck. The roll of the
dice relies on the laws of probability. In contrast, the fate of the modern man
is increasingly determined by algorithms. In restricting the visible numbers on
the dice to 1 and 6, Troika have reduced the random potential of numbers to a
binary outcome. This usurps the dice as a symbol of chance and
unpredictability.
While the 1 and 6 emphasize the binary nature
of the algorithmic image, the dice objects remain iconic for generating random
numbers and men’s attempt to circumvent randomness as a measure of uncertainty.
By using only the faces showing 1 and 6 Troika locks the otherwise random
possibilities of 1 to 6 to only these two instances asking the question:
Are our choices radically free, or are they determined by prior decisions?
