New Data for Old Empires

2012-13

This work is directly influenced by the sweeping changes across the world caused by the recent revolutions and the use of technology to manifest ideology, the fight for justice and freedom of speech. From the Arab Spring to the Occupy movement, technology at the hands of citizens has turned into a powerful tool to document and disseminate information. The old dictatorships and governments did not see this coming in its entirety, and their efforts to curb the use of technology in these scenarios has only helped fuel these crowd sourced revolts and its goals. The video projection and the works on paper, both use a common symbols of resistance, the gas mask, which has turned into a potent symbol against oppression and for protection against the use of tear gas and pepper sprays. The floating characters in the video projection all hide behind these masks providing both anonymity and protection against the forces they battle. Yet beyond the fight on the street for justice & freedom it is the tools of technology that aid them. The graphic three dimensional objects the characters carry represent facets of these technologies and the possibilities of its ever changing nature.

From independent media activist collectives to hacker groups working secretly underground, gaining the upper hand on the social media turf has become a key goal as the “old media” of TV, newspapers and radio lose their stand as state controlled media. For many who have long argued that these tools will help topple autocratic nation-states, recent events in the Middle East & South east Asia seemed to offer long-awaited corroboration. To those less certain of the structural importance of such tools, it was easy to cry foul of the media’s role in hyping the techno-utopian story line. The fact still remains that the distributed nature of these revolts & the en masse gathering of youth have both proven the role of technology as the Achilles heel for these authoritarian regimes.

Limited editon DVD box set (10) with original drawing.

Red-Blue-green

2007 & 2011

Whether we acknowledge the message or not, we are living in a world where a every turn of your head there is a message being communicated using traditional or new media. These communications are persistent and repetitive, which forms the basis of the video art work RED-BULE-GREEN. The video in its core message is analytical of the idea of "trends" which the media perpetrates. The color red is always the color red with its emotional and qualitative references, but with the idea of trends those references switch to other colors especially to convey a development or change in tendency with regard to fashion, seasons and product color relationships.

A short social commentary on dancing in Second Life

2008

Part machinima, part documentary, the video aims to give a glimpse at the mechanical nature of our virtual lives. Narrated from the point of view of my avatar on second life, a conceded old man, this short video critiques the practise of using dance pods on Second life as a means to earn linden dollars. Complaining about the lack of choreography and the time wasted, the narrator here views the dancing with contempt and offers a smattering of the expected advice. The act of a user patiently siting at this computer while watching his virtual avatar dance and earn money when viewed from an real world perspective, is a contrasting physical activity which requires further discussion.

Screenings: