artists statement

A Chaotic New World - faq

Modern western civilisation, especially current generations, are exposed to the biggest height in consumer culture and globalisation in history. The effects have imbedded themselves so extremely in our lives that it’s almost impossible to notice. In fact, we are, in many ways for many reasons, conditioned not to. It reminds me of a saying about trees and the forest.

Q. How do we deal with it all?
A. Escape.

Q. How do you do it?
A. Be somewhere else. An alternative reality or perception often works.

Q. Where can we find these alternatives?
A. Just look into a television, computer, phone, iPod, camera, etc. Generally somewhere with a screen.

Q. Why a screen?
A. People are attracted to light. Stimulation. Escapism. There’s often some form of narrative happening. It helps aid distraction.

Q. Why do we do this?
A. Life is difficult. There’s a lot going on. Time is precious. When we can, we prefer not to get too bogged down in it all. It’s a bit contradictory though, because we’re generally looking for stimulation. Stimulation is information. And if we use narrative as an example, the more chaos, stimulation, and information, the deeper we can immerse ourselves in it, and the deeper the immersion, the more we enjoy that distraction.

Q. That sounds a bit complicated… chaotic even.
A. That’s how it is for me. I want to dissect it all. So that it’s less chaotic. We think we like order more than chaos. Like anything, it’s not that simple. I’m going to try and work it all out using images. To create some kind of order out of this mess.

Q. How? Why?
A. We’re exposed to over 30,000 images every day. We understand them. How to read them, what they mean. We’re still susceptible to their manipulation, which is another theme I hope to explore. I believe images are the primary form of escape. So it makes sense to use them to communicate my findings.

How will your images illustrate your findings?
I’ll shoot images of people while they’re in the state of escape. This will at first appear meaningless, it’s something we see all the time. Which is part of the point, because we are so immersed in it. The form of the images, my choice of communication method; the fine art print, in an exhibition setting, will suggest that there’s more to it than that. The elements and construction of the images will provide clues for the viewer to read. Ideally, after a bit of consideration, the viewer should be able to understand the meaning and metaphors I have placed within the photographs.

how i got here

The following images were part of the basis for this idea. It probably started around the time that a friend of mine, who was in her final year of performance studies, was creating an installation based on video works that we worked on together, including an animation from an earlier post. Although the themes are quite different, I can see the link, or perhaps development of this idea from then until now. I was particularly interested in the viewer, identity, and screen-based media.



Next up was when my sister and I were watching the sunset. Only we weren't really watching it, just shooting it until it lost its attractiveness.



The next time was when I was checking out the ruins of Angkor. One of the sites had just wrapped up filming a Thai film. A young local was obviously influenced. It stood out only because the clichéd realisation that we all know but begin to really get when we travel... that life, when simple, and with limited resources, often appears much more relaxed and content. So it can be kind of confusing when you see the locals desiring the alternative western consumer driven culture.



And then, tourism/the veiwer/photography/location (where are you?). At the summit of a small mountain overlooking Angkor Wat for sunset, the amount of people, the chaotic search for the best view, and the amount of cameras, really just blew me away. That was for me, much more captivating than the sunset.




I'm just as bad. Especially as a tourist. At least most people only get their cameras out at the same time as everyone else. Inconspicuousness, not always my thing. I got a bit over excited when I found a Borders in Kuala Lumpur. And, even better, the Borders had an Apple store in it. The sales guy was taking our photo in PhotoBooth, of which I was taking photo's, of myself, with a fake Parisian background. So perhaps even when we're escaping, we're still escaping. To simplify.