My work is an exploration of separation and connectedness, and of the relationship between the physical self and digital life. Working within the context and physical limitations of the COVID-19 era, I have used 360 technology to re-create a dance party. The images are a collage of international Zoom parties that proliferated on the internet in early 2020. Furthermore, the sound is comprised of distorted found sounds on the internet comprising of collected virtual club music and political speeches by Prime Minister Boris Johnson announcing the UK’s COVID-19 restrictions.
I am interested in exploring the merging between the physical self and the digital self. Through lives spent on the internet, we become disembodied as we exist within digital realms of socialisation.
The visual dance parties use glitching effects and repetition to encapsulate an energy of chaos and panic, symptomatic of an era of universal emotional distress and panic. The user is encouraged to use the 360 technology with iPhones and VR headsets to become a part of the work, reinforcing the ambiguous nature of real experience and of the artificial.
“To my surprise, one hundred stories high
People getting loose y’all, getting down on the roof
Folks are screaming, out of control
It was so entertaining when the boogie started to explode
I heard somebody say
disco inferno”
Disco Infurlough, 2020
Digital video, 360 video
10 minutes 44 seconds
