Keypunch Operator (Field Interpreter), 2006
For this performance work, Setzer ate a 1971 computer punch card in its entirety (also called a “Hollerith card” or “IBM card”). While the punch card is frequently associated with dehumanization, in this artwork Setzer reverses the roles of man and machine—here the body processes the machine. Setzer parallels early data processing devices with the mind’s roll in the interpretation of experience, making his own impressions on the card while situated in the landscape. The columns of data on punch cards were referred to as “fields.” Privy of this, the artwork puns the idea of “field interpretation.”