Machined By Hand is an exploration into the audio-visual, how-to-make culture on online content sharing platforms. It looks at how the commodification of data and personalised neurobehavioral tracking of platforms like Youtube, Instagram and Facebook incentivise audience retention wars which have reshaped the way creators digitally share tacit experience and hand skills since the Data Protection Act in 2018. As a result of monetisation and centralised control on said platforms, the role of the hands within the hand craft/maker culture takes on a new meaning in audio-visual form - moving from demonstrative teaching tools (proprioception in psychology) to those of theatrical re-enactment and entertainment props. Digital fabrication plays its part in this audio-visually consumed material culture shift as machines become every bit better at artificially mimicking the human experience. Be it by capturing higher resolution quality, reproducing greater audio fidelity, and even rendering virtual worlds with multisensory inputs. I am left wondering: How can we tell the difference between hand and machine made? Is it how to make or is it entertainment? How does increased multisensory fidelity artificially evoke intimacy?

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