Exhibition
An exhibition of new work by artists Manu Luksch + Mukul Patel, Loraine Leeson, Stacy Makishi and Lois Weaver. What if everyone had a role in deciding how society uses digital technologies? The growing relationship between networks and computer systems means the way we live is being increasingly determined by technology. The UK has an ‘ageing’ population who live with the implications of these design decisions. The Not Quite Yet asked how older people can engage with future design processes of technology. The artists have been invited to respond to a research project that engages groups of older people in East London exploring their relationship to technology and its development.
Documentation of the exhibition:
Loraine Leeson has been working with The Geezers, a group of East London senior men, on a project to facilitate technological innovation out of their collective and extensive life experiences. In considering how technological development might improve life for themselves and the wider community, The Geezers identified the benefits of harnessing the tidal power of the Thames. Members of the group recounted how centuries ago a water wheel was attached to London Bridge. In living memory tidal power has been developed, then set aside in favour of wind farms as our major source of alternative power. Now is the time to let the Thames power London and the Geezers are making it happen. Their experience of life creates a true desire to support future generations. This project is tapping more than one source of power… Stacy Makishi has created wearable chindogu in response to desires collected from Aglow, Wacc Cine Club and senior friends and family. Chindogu: is the Japanese word coined for the art of the failed and ‘un-useless’ design object. Meant to solve the problems of modern life, these bizarre objects have a tendency to fail completely. The objects include a dress with a built-in zebra crossing, a hat that helps a person talk to God and a skirt that keeps you on your toes. Working with the Space Age Sirens, a choir of older women from the East End led by Laka D, Manu Luksch & Mukul Patel have created a mixed media installation using sound, video, and painting. The work pokes fun at the technobabble and nannying tone of user manuals by setting them to song. As the choir instructs us on the operation of washing machines, so they remind us that, in the space age, common sense has never been so urgently needed. Manu Luksch & Mukul Patel’s interdisciplinary and process-led way of working aims at critically dissecting the myth of ‘progress through technology’.
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