Spectacle is the sun

Stop. Look at the view. Breathe in. Let it out slowly. How long does it take? The screen creeps back into consciousness as reality fades into monochrome. The warm glow of the mediated experience invites you to sink into a comfortable numbness, to view rather than experience. Modern society overlays real experiences with representations, distancing us from direct engagement with our environment. There is an uneasy tension between the real and the constructed. In the words of Guy Debord from his 1967 book The Society of the Spectacle:

“Spectacle is the sun that never sets over the empire of modern passivity”

Using the tools and forms of mass media to critique the ever-expanding presence of the screen is an unavoidable paradox. The scenes exist between traditional photographic practice and moving image. Control over the pace of spectating has been stripped away, the screen pulls on the attention while providing no substance. The soundscape has been constructed from analog synthesizers, tape loops, digital glitches and skips of optical media and compressed file formats. The tangible textures of obsolete electronic communication techniques are imprinted with nostalgia and cultural references, but carry no meaning with them.