CONCEPT

Packaged is a free standing cardboard structure designed for display inside a shopping mall or consumer space. It is an exploration of the interaction between consumer objects and the notion that reality has been replaced by a multitude of scenerios and simulations. 'Packaged' provides a refuge from this simulated world.

SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT - PUBLIC SPACE

We are not alone as human beings and live life in a social environment where we are continuously part of the flow and interaction of human society. Through communication we affect and influence other people. The way that we perceive reality is continuously affected by the information we receive from others. In the past, the present and in the future we are constantly and endlessly accumulating information. This unceasing activity continues consciously and unconsciously. Perceiving reality is an uninterrupted process and exchange. But this is also a reciprocal exchange of information. Reality is not a single flow of messages from others, but we are able to filter and try to understand the information we receive. It is a reciprocal relationship. This is communication. Public space is part of this communication. However, public space is not a personal space, it is not a space we can control for our own purposes or identity. Public space is simulated space.

THEME - SIMULATION & SIMULACRA

We live in a physical material world and in contemporary society we study and understand the world through science and technology. We learn more about the material world through this methodology, and yet as the world becomes more technological and as our exposure to new technology and media increases, so we accrue delusions through simulations. Simulations mimic and distort reality. As human beings interact with simulations their understanding of the world becomes simulated. Reality is no longer truth or illusion, but simulation.

Now our lives are regularly influenced by simulations. If we go on holiday there is a scenario, which we have learned through reading holiday brochures, guidebooks and magazines. It gives us an idea of what we should do on holiday, where we should visit and how we should behave. We play out scenarios following what we think we should be doing. The end result is pseudo-individualism.

Modern life is full of these scenarios, which we are exposed to through the media, advertising, product design, architecture, and literally every form of communication. Since we were born have we ever been exposed to reality without there being scenarios or simulations? Is it possible for us to look at ourselves objectively? Can we understand what is outside the simulated world? Can we go outside the world of matrix reality?

LOCATION - SHOPPING MALL

My work ‘Packaged’ will be placed in a public space at the heart of consumer society where there is a continuous flow of people and consumer objects and consumer information, such as advertising and marketing. It should be a consumer space such as a shopping mall, shopping centre or hypermarket. The context of my work should be as an object within a consumer environment. The work is silver coloured and has an eye-catching futuristic design, using principles from packaging, brand design and contemporary building architecture, so it creates a strong impression on the observer.

However, ‘Packaged’ is different to other manufactured consumer products on sale in the shops located nearby. Even though it can be found in the consumer world it is not for sale and requires no money to enter. This free space can be accessed by individuals or groups of people. The work is made of cardboard so even though it is light and portable it is also tough and safe. It has been treated with fire resistance. ‘Packaged’ is unusually large for such an object. It is an exaggeration and an over-statement of normal packaging designs. It is a hyper package.

AIM - REFUGE FROM A SIMULATED WORLD

Whilst the work was created from a series of maquettes made by the artist the final design, produced as a large scale work, will be manufactured. If produced by hand it would be a personal expression with personal meaning inferred. However, by creating the work through a manufacturing process objectivity is deliberately implied. There is an entrance and an exit in the ‘Packaged’ object so the viewer may enter inside. Like a Temple or meditation space this provides sanctuary from the simulated world. It is a resting room or chill out space from the consumer environment. This may seem like a fantasy but it is a refuge from the simulacra.

The philosopher Jean Baudrillard accused artistic attempts to understand simulacra as creating parodies of scenarios. Even though you may try to escape from the simulated world, what you create is simply a scenario within that simulation. However, although this may be true, then human beings can still physically experience and interact with my work. If physical interaction takes place between the viewer and my work then a communication is taking place. Even if an artist may just be creating a scenario the viewer can still understand the existence of that scenario. Even if you exist inside a simulation you can still become aware of the simulation and start to understand the simulation objectively.

If there is no reality other than simulation then we can still have a reciprocal communication with this reality to understand what our reality has become. If we have a reciprocal relationship then it is possible to find refuge from this simulated world. Through experiencing the work ‘Packaged’ it may be possible to understand that it is a scenario. By crossing the boundary into ‘Packaged’ you may discover that reality is simulated. You may learn the truth. You can also be part of a scenario. Within the scenario of this work you may be acting out a role within consumer society or a role within the simulated world.

Ultimately the work is ambivalent about this and ambivalent about consumer society. It is just a scenario or experience, in which the viewer may understand something about the way they see the world.