Artist Jen Liu’s solo exhibition 'Pound of Flesh' at Silverlens New York explores the dehumanizing nature of digital labor through visceral imagery of raw meat. The show features paintings where human consciousness is replaced by butcher-shop cuts and an animated video based on Liu’s research into microworkers—individuals who perform repetitive, low-paid tasks to train AI models. By juxtaposing the biological reality of the body with the clinical extraction of data, Liu highlights the physical and psychological toll of the 'Agentic Age.'
This body of work situates Liu within a growing cohort of artists, including Hito Steyerl and Nicolas Gourault, who are documenting the 'unseen humans' behind artificial intelligence. As global economies shift toward precarious crowdwork and algorithmic management, these artists serve as contemporary chroniclers of alienated labor. The exhibition underscores how the tech industry’s reliance on anonymous, isolated workers mirrors historical patterns of industrial exploitation, transforming human subjectivity into a commodified resource.