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{CRISIS}
2011
Mixed media installation with Google Realtime feed
With particular thanks to Vittal Aithal
CRISIS is an exploration of the contemporary neurosis of information overload. It continues my research into the accumulation (and decay) of knowledge by contextualizing contemporary crises against an historical backdrop. A dysfunctional, retro office is piled high with books, magazines and prints. Crisis is stacked upon crisis: Solar crisis, Bionic crisis, Indian crisis. A turntable cues up ‘Crisis’ by Roger Banton behind ‘Crisis’ by Bob Marley. Manga, vinyl, VHS: in all media, from every decade. Half-buried amongst the clutter sits a red emergency telephone. A hidden Linux box, networked to Google Realtime, listens for occurrences of the word ‘crisis’ from news agencies, bloggers and the twitterati. Each hit rings the telephone and sparks a printer into life. The very latest contemporary crisis from around the globe has been reported and is injected into the mix. With the death of the newspaper, the global citizen turns to the internet, only to be overwhelmed by 24-hour continuous feeds from news corporations with opaque agendas. Submerged beneath the superabundance of information – reportage, opinion, spin; fact, rumour, gossip – disorientation and fatigue set in.
Exhibited at Cambridge Artworks, Cambridge and the Ruskin Gallery, Cambridge School of Art, as part of The Searle Award for Creativity; winning entry
Mixed media installation with Google Realtime feed
With particular thanks to Vittal Aithal
CRISIS is an exploration of the contemporary neurosis of information overload. It continues my research into the accumulation (and decay) of knowledge by contextualizing contemporary crises against an historical backdrop. A dysfunctional, retro office is piled high with books, magazines and prints. Crisis is stacked upon crisis: Solar crisis, Bionic crisis, Indian crisis. A turntable cues up ‘Crisis’ by Roger Banton behind ‘Crisis’ by Bob Marley. Manga, vinyl, VHS: in all media, from every decade. Half-buried amongst the clutter sits a red emergency telephone. A hidden Linux box, networked to Google Realtime, listens for occurrences of the word ‘crisis’ from news agencies, bloggers and the twitterati. Each hit rings the telephone and sparks a printer into life. The very latest contemporary crisis from around the globe has been reported and is injected into the mix. With the death of the newspaper, the global citizen turns to the internet, only to be overwhelmed by 24-hour continuous feeds from news corporations with opaque agendas. Submerged beneath the superabundance of information – reportage, opinion, spin; fact, rumour, gossip – disorientation and fatigue set in.
Exhibited at Cambridge Artworks, Cambridge and the Ruskin Gallery, Cambridge School of Art, as part of The Searle Award for Creativity; winning entry