The Commodification of Love

Kamel Mennour is proud to present "The Commodification of Love", a show curated by Cloé Perrone.

In the digital era, when goods are delivered to our doors with a single click, we are increasingly consuming technology. The distinction between analog and digital worlds has become narrower as in both realms people continue to consume in a fast-paced environment. The expansion of life on the web, which coincided with the development of both new technology and neo-liberalism, has made it possible to standardise and rate experiences. Feelings have found space on the digital market, a market that trades not only in goods but also in social recognition, awareness, and emotions.

Feelings and sentimental relationships have started to depend on devices; we communicate and expand these connections through them. In a world where chance encounters are more unlikely, how do we look for new ones? Although we think and live more independently, we still feel the need or pressure to share our lives with a better half.

What is the role of love? How do we define it? How do we look for it? If we accept that the goal is still to find love, we are also aware that the tools for attaining it have evolved. As the romantic perception of love has shifted towards a more pragmatic vision, we are now able to demand and offer love on a regulated market, which is also a

result to the creation of dating application systems. Finding love has never been easy, and, even though today it is simpler to meet and stay connected with new people, getting the love we are after is still hard. Access to more people doesn’t shorten the search for love; the increase in possibilities might actually make the selection of the desired person more complicated. The magical moment of matching is what makes the search for love and matching platforms so exciting.