Romain Mader
Get the Look!
"As night draped its veil over the city, I curled up in bed, bathed in the glow of my laptop screen. It had become something of a ritual - the nocturnal quest for that elusive dopamine rush, an ephemeral escape from the monotony of reality. My cursor danced across the screen, making its way through an infinite maze of websites, each promising a glimpse into a world of possibilities.
But it was on one site in particular that I stumbled upon something intriguing - a digital realm where algorithms reigned supreme, dictating clothing choices with disturbing precision. “Get the Look! “proclaimed the banner, inviting me into its virtual embrace. With one click, I plunged headlong into a whirlwind of personalized recommendations, each outfit a carefully selected reflection of my online existence. The slogans sounded like distant whispers in the recesses of my mind. “Shop now, thank us later,” they teased, their seductive appeal tinged with the promise of instant gratification. And so I found myself trapped in a web of temptations, each click propelling me deeper into the abyss of consumerism."
Extract from Get the Look!, written by Romain Mader
Get the Look! is a satirical and critical series of self-portraits questioning the influence of algorithms in our behaviour and decision-making processes, particularly in the current phenomenon of “fast fashion". The clothes worn by the artist were ordered from online sites that sell quickly and cheaply, influenced by Mader and his partner’s browsing activity. After wearing them for photography, the artist returned them to the sender.
Featuring over 40 different looks, a text by Romain Mader and an essay by curator and arts writer, Théo-Mario Coppola.
Get the Look! is Romain Mader’s second publication with Mörel Books, following Ekaterina, 2016.
About the Artist
Romain Mader (b. 1988) is a Swiss artist who lives and works in Zurich. He is represented by Galerie DIX9 in Paris.
He received a Master of Fine Arts from the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) and a Bachelor in Photography from Ecole Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne (ECAL).
Within his work, Mader creates fictional narratives which explore themes of love, loneliness and human behaviours. His visual storytelling is often performative, particularly evident in his photographic and video works, where Mader steps into the role of actor to bring his stories to life.
Mader has exhibited at FOAM Amsterdam, Paris Photo, Helmhaus Zürich, UNTITLED Miami, Art Rotterdam, OCAT Shanghai, OCAT Shenzhen, Musée d‘art de Pully, Coalmine Winterthur, Images Vevey. He has won multiple awards such as the FOAM Paul Huf Award in 2017 and the Vaud Photographic Survey grant in 2023. Mader has been an artist in residence at Cité internationale des arts in Paris in 2015, the La Fragua in Belalcazar, Spain in 2016 and the Academy of Visual Arts, Hong Kong in 2019
Mader was featured in the 2016 group exhibition Performing for the Camera in London’s Tate Modern. This coincided with the publication of his first monograph Ekaterina with Mörel Books.
Get the Look!
Romain Mader
2024
Limited Edition of 300
103 Pages
Softcover
90 x 175 mm, portrait
ISBN 978-1-917282-02-4
In the press
In his series Get the Look!, Romain Mader takes a witty approach towards how we are manipulated by social media algorithms, asking the question: “what would happen if we let algorithms dress us?” In a series of self portraits Mader wears items recommended to him by algorithms prompted by his browsing patterns. The often ludicrous results poke fun at the marketing tools used to encourage our purchasing habits, but he makes a serious point in reminding us to trust our instincts and not the machine.
Shroom with a view: photo gems from Images Vevey - in pictures, by Fiona Shields