Contextual Statement:
Simply a suitcase as an object is inseparable from a wide raft of connotations and associations: travel, holiday, movement, mystery. The original brief encouraged the exploration of the suitcase as a symbol of modern life, in such a society where we move around a lot more, are more globalized and often pack up our entire lives in a suitcase, whether by choice (migration) or necessity (refugees). Increased mobility in a changing world has also impacted on the suitcase; it is often the object of scrutiny, regarded as potential threat until proven otherwise - which suitcase contains the condensed and compartmentalized life of a humble traveller, and which contains a terrorist threat?
I chose several of these elements to draw upon. The mystery and intrigue of this banal, everyday object is in the mystery and uniqueness of it's contents. Though my suitcase is open, most of the internal section is concealed and with it all the mechanics. The viewer is confronted only with the sleek reflective black surface and weighty metal cubes.
The interactive nature of the work is that the viewer is asked to unpack and repack the suitcase. It is a strange paradox of control where their actions determine the result of the output, yet they aren't consciously aware of how they are effecting it. How often is this the case with modern technologies where we aren't often fully aware of exactly what the implications of our interactions are? And yet, we can interact with them without fully understanding.
It is in fact these technologies which have had an impact in shaping what we call modern life. I chose to look at the work of the Futurists who 100 years ago were exploring the implications of their modernity with the emergence of the mechanical age. Between WWI and WWII the immense social and economic change stimulated by the technical achievements of the modern age created the founding manifesto of Futurism, that the world's magnificence has been enriched by a new beauty: the beauty of speed. They celebrated the dynamic synergy of man and machine and the inescapable presence of speed in modern life.
Since then, technologies have exponentially developed and our concepts of time have been greatly influenced by networks that offer instantaneous information and connectivity. The speed of modern life dictates that we must always be on the move, always be accessible and must be in touch with these technologies to not get left behind.
Futurists tried to represent concepts of time in static forms through sequences of movement sweeping across a single composition. I chose the medium of photography as it can represent the accelerated pace of modern life by recording in sharp, frozen detail a minute slice of movement too quick for the eye to see. The pressure sensors act as the interface, the metaphorical 'pressures' of modern life which dictate the pace at which we must live our lives.
My final work, though not yet fully resolved, explores the movement of a figure, represented within the suitcase, manipulated by the contents and arrangement of the contents of the suitcase. The suitcase represents a life determined by movement and mobility, condensed and compartmentalized. The pace and way we moved is controlled by external elements outside our control. Modern life has sped up to the point where clarity is lost, moments are fleeting and it all becomes a blur of movement.
Are we no more than a suitcase, a vessel within which we pack out lives, only to be moved around on the conveyor belt out of our control?
I chose several of these elements to draw upon. The mystery and intrigue of this banal, everyday object is in the mystery and uniqueness of it's contents. Though my suitcase is open, most of the internal section is concealed and with it all the mechanics. The viewer is confronted only with the sleek reflective black surface and weighty metal cubes.
The interactive nature of the work is that the viewer is asked to unpack and repack the suitcase. It is a strange paradox of control where their actions determine the result of the output, yet they aren't consciously aware of how they are effecting it. How often is this the case with modern technologies where we aren't often fully aware of exactly what the implications of our interactions are? And yet, we can interact with them without fully understanding.
It is in fact these technologies which have had an impact in shaping what we call modern life. I chose to look at the work of the Futurists who 100 years ago were exploring the implications of their modernity with the emergence of the mechanical age. Between WWI and WWII the immense social and economic change stimulated by the technical achievements of the modern age created the founding manifesto of Futurism, that the world's magnificence has been enriched by a new beauty: the beauty of speed. They celebrated the dynamic synergy of man and machine and the inescapable presence of speed in modern life.
Since then, technologies have exponentially developed and our concepts of time have been greatly influenced by networks that offer instantaneous information and connectivity. The speed of modern life dictates that we must always be on the move, always be accessible and must be in touch with these technologies to not get left behind.
Futurists tried to represent concepts of time in static forms through sequences of movement sweeping across a single composition. I chose the medium of photography as it can represent the accelerated pace of modern life by recording in sharp, frozen detail a minute slice of movement too quick for the eye to see. The pressure sensors act as the interface, the metaphorical 'pressures' of modern life which dictate the pace at which we must live our lives.
My final work, though not yet fully resolved, explores the movement of a figure, represented within the suitcase, manipulated by the contents and arrangement of the contents of the suitcase. The suitcase represents a life determined by movement and mobility, condensed and compartmentalized. The pace and way we moved is controlled by external elements outside our control. Modern life has sped up to the point where clarity is lost, moments are fleeting and it all becomes a blur of movement.
Are we no more than a suitcase, a vessel within which we pack out lives, only to be moved around on the conveyor belt out of our control?
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