BANNED BY FACEBOOK:

David Hauptschein
5 days ago
2 min read

An Art Show Too Raw for the Algorithm

David Hauptschein and Allen Vandever

On Saturday, August 9, 2024, Phygital Art Gallery was buzzing—not with the polite hum of “content-approved” art shows, but with the raw static of work that algorithms can’t handle. Banned By Facebook, a one-night exhibition by Allen Vandever and myself, was everything the title promised: provocative, unapologetic, and too real for the feed.

For months, I’d been making work that I could not post on Facebook without risking the digital equivalent of exile—content takedowns, account restrictions, and the ominous “under watch” status. My crime? Violating the infamous “three nipples and you’re out” policy. All AI-generated. No real nipples were harmed. But the bots don’t care.'

It’s not just me. A friend of mine was banned for life from advertising on Facebook for making a lighthearted pandemic music video. He tried to appeal, only to find himself trapped in a bureaucracy that made Kafka’s darkest pages look like light comedy. This is what happens when algorithms, not humans, hold the keys to visibility.

Banned By Facebook was our way of bypassing the gatekeepers.

We printed 35 pieces—never before seen in public—and hung them in analog reality, where no algorithm can pixelate or delete them. People wandered the gallery, getting close enough to see the detail that social media compresses into oblivion.

Some pieces were erotic but not pornographic, political but not preachy, beautiful but not decorative. All of them were risky, radical, and revelatory—exactly what art should be. In a world where “community guidelines” are increasingly about corporate comfort, our show was about pushing back.

Standing in that space with Allen, surrounded by friends, artists, and curious strangers, I was reminded why the physical gallery still matters.

Online, you’re scrolling past images in seconds. In a room, the work stares back at you. You can’t swipe it away.

For those who missed it, you can still view the work by contacting Allen Vandever directly. But don’t wait too long—art like this doesn’t stay caged forever.

Because some things deserve to be seen exactly as they are.