(For) You, Optimized

(For) You, Optimized is an endless scrolling stream of “advice” that borrows the language of self-help literature and the logic of social media feeds. Each line is generated from the most highlighted passages of Kindle self-help books—crowd-sourced fragments of wisdom. These snippets act as shortcuts: concise, aspirational takeaways for readers seeking insight without engaging with the full texts. Detached from their original context, they are recombined using Markov chains into new, often incoherent syntheses. A homogenized voice emerges, promising transformation while ultimately saying nothing, hovering between sense and nonsense. For You, Optimized reflects on a culture obsessed with efficiency and self-improvement, asking: who benefits from our endless pursuit of optimization, and what remains of the self in the process?