2026 SPE Annual Conference: Catalyst for Exchange
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Unaffordable-Viewing the Housing Crisis Through an International Lens & American Standard
Valerie Mendoza & Kaitlyn Smith
Saturday, March 18 - 3:00PM to 3:45PM
Tower C
Mendoza - When experienced in isolation, rising housing costs may represent a personal failure to those faced with the challenge of finding an affordable place to live; when considered on a global scale, it becomes clear that, far from an issue of personal planning, success or failure, this world-wide phenomenon should be attributed to larger factors. How did we get to this place? For the past 10 years, Mendoza's work has focused solely on the issue of affordable housing. Three of her recent projects offer opportunities for public discussion. "Unaffordable" will introduce this work, with the goal of expanding dialogue around this critical topic.
Smith - In Lights Out, I utilize machine learning to render visible the intangible state of America's labor force. The term lights out manufacturing refers to a fully automated factory that requires no human presence on site, operating without heating, air conditioning, lunch breaks or unions. Similarly, the portraits in Lights Out are not real people, rather, they are deep fakes created by artificial intelligence utilizing a neural network. I empower the machine to visualize those it has replaced by employing these found identities to teach the algorithm to see, interpret and render out its own assembly of laborers.
speakers
Kaitlyn Smith
Valerie Mendoza
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