This Mess We're in: Speculation and Materiality in Contemporary Art

Abstract

We live in a time of anxiety; trouble lurks at every turn. Under the ongoing shadow of biological insecurity we are constantly brought face-to-face with the real or speculative extinction of humankind. What's the Matter plays with psychic discomfort and damaged and shattered imagery, it invites the viewer to experience instability; exploring the materials of a flawed humanity. Each component of the installation offers its own journey, history and vital force - deeper realities lie concealed beneath their perceivable surfaces. Wrecked, burnt and decaying manufactured materials carry qualities of obsolescence, they are freed from functionality and the empty promises of human technology and instead suggest the possibility of a dark vitality propelling us forward. What's The Matter lauds a species heading for certain doom, the debased euphoria of obliteration. A fleeting gasp of planetary breath and lick to taste the char.