Nemo Smith

Nemo Smith is not an average politician. He is, in fact, the average of all UK politicians.

As an algorithm-generated political figure, Smith’s persona and political campaign are based on those of real politicians and parties in the United Kingdom. By researching their campaigns and taking certain aspects to the extreme with the use of technology, Top uses Nemo Smith to channel the absurdity of the current political landscape, the lack of ideals, and the advent of fear-driven voting, addressing the agendas of deception and manipulation typical of recent elections.

After analysing the spending of UK political parties on election campaigns, focusing on ad spending and data collection, Top collected imagery and text used in their campaigns and categorised them according to message and visual language. What recurred was a polarising message: the tendency to push voters to vote against something rather than for something. This concept became the base for the political campaign of Nemo Smith.

To create Nemo Smith, Marcel Top trained an algorithm to generate a new face based on the portraits of all current UK MPs. The result was then used to create an ultra-realistic 3D model which also allowed the artist to create full body imagery. Top also used algorithms to face swap and/or create deepfakes.

Through Nemo Smith, Top confronts the public with an exaggeration of the concept of “voting against rather than voting for”, aiming to highlight excessive manipulation and unfair use of data collection during elections. Nemo Smith is the embodiment of all the deceitful practices used by political parties to secure the highest numbers of voters. His motto, “I am not a politician”, reflects the ambiguous and opportunistic nature of campaigning. While, on one hand, this statement is true - as he is not a real politician - it is also a lie. Being the product of all other politicians, by definition he brings nothing new and no actual change for his voters, contrary to what his motto might suggest in political language.

Marcel Top was part of Face-to-Face: Arles Edition 2024.