What Matters, Algorithmic Echo Chambers and lived realities of AfD voters

Artist and filmmaker Loretta Fahrenholz presents What Matters, an interview project with voters in Germany who support the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), focusing on the combination of algorithm-driven misinformation and personal experiences that inform their political views. 

Inspired by Erica Heilmans audio series "What class are you?", the work seeks to get a deeper understanding of an individual’s sense of identity and how their personal histories might be decentered by digital influence. 

Rather than reinforcing stereotypes, the project explores the life experience of the interviewees and how their own perception of their past and presence reaffirms and possibly clashes with their media consumption. 

Through recorded audio conversations and visual documentation, What Matters investigates potential contradictions between a person’s own perception of their past and the curated content they receive online, offering a meaningful engagement with contemporary political life.

Join us at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin on Unter den Linden for a 60-minute lecture with audio-visual materials, followed by a 30-minute conversation with the speaker. 

This talk is featured in the lecture series "Addressing Heritage Loss", hosted by the Centre for Advanced Study inherit. heritage in transformation at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.