For the last six-hundred years, Western civilisation has been preyed upon by unavoidable cycles of recurring catastrophe. We have been catapulted into a new viral reality; a world defined by fear, fragility, and isolation. So, what world awaits us on the other side? This catastrophe has set the stage for surveillance capitalism to flourish. Accelerated by our powerlessness and widespread panic, surveillance levels are at an all time high. These crude surveillance mediums nevertheless play into the hands of the data-rich, requiring a different and more nuanced vocabulary in order to alert people to [and thus prevent] their unrestricted expansion and normalisation. The project targets our habitual behaviours, those most affected by the lockdown, in order to infiltrate our routines and induce a heightened state of awareness in relation to data sovereignty. The supermarket is a typology historically connected with data usage, as well as being a bastion of late-capitalism, it is also one of the few remaining outlets functioning during lockdown. However, our habitual modes of shopping have been inverted. A Companion of Krísis proposes an evolved supermarket typology - one centred around browsing. However, rather than browsing groceries, we are instead witness to the ever-evolving materialisation of one's data-persona. Drawing on an existing taxonomy of quad-dimensional shopping behaviours, the supermarket places data into one of four categories (Normative, Social, Sacred and Hedonistic); this data is subsequently synthesised into a sequence of multidimensional spaces. These spaces, and the liminal places between them, are then materialised in augmented reality. In its most simple version, the project takes the shape of recognisable supermarket forms, merely populated with personalised products, however, AR offers the opportunity to delve further into the depths of the surreal, in an attempt to disorient, unsettle, and ultimately startle the shopper into a greater state of self-awareness. Armed with a series of accompanying documents, individuals are encouraged to explore these multi-dimensions, utilising learnt behaviour from traditional browsing habits, to nurture more intimate relationships with their virtual-self.
2020
DIGITAL
LONDON