The word of mouse (grok your cornea gumbo) is a reflection of life as we know it - a voyeuristic digital paradise. Presented as a dark yet humorous coming of age film, combining archival moving and still images from popular culture with an original score, to consider our lives as inextricably linked with the digital world for better or worse. Suspended in perpetuity, to create a collision between the chronology of digital tech development and a paralysed narrative which exists in past, present and future constructs.
This body of work reflects on our movement between the containment of a physical world and the unseen digital world that connects us. Forming a dystopian account of digital consumerism as a type of 'soft fascism’, the subject ultimately challenges us to face forms of manipulation and ignorance whether on a personal or global level, through mass media and economic-led propaganda.
Inspired by Ballard, who once predicted the future having an ‘electronic wallpaper, each of us will be both star and supporting player.' and Pulitzer Prize nominee Nicholas Carr who comments that the Internet ‘leads to behaviour that people are conscious is not in their best interest and does leave them anxious and does make them act compulsively.’
Using samples of popular culture to comment on our challenging relationship with the internet. Editing, defacing or collaging music videos, advertising campaigns and social media to create a humorous and dark piece of film that considers a contemporary dystopia and challenges our acceptance of the digital status quo. Viewing this both from a local, community level, connecting with people through workshops, and also with a broad brush, providing key statements that connect with the developed world. The work reflects our movement between the physical world that contains us and the digital world that connects us.
