The Pods
This is a 360 video. For full interaction, view directly on YouTube where you can click and drag to look around.
The Pods is a work made for Hell or High Water, a group exhibition responding to the historic lightship LV21 on the River Thames in Gravesend. Originally conceived as a weekend of live art exploring life’s transitions, adversity and transformation, the project was adapted into a digital format due to Covid-19 restrictions.
My initial proposal for Hell or High Water was to develop my work along the theme of isolation, which became much more relevant during the Covid-19 lockdown. I love the space inside the Light Vessel 21 ship, particularly the area beneath deck, which to me resembles the images of spacecraft from science fiction in TV and film. Ships are so closely tied to how we view space travel through the lens of sci-fi; we picture spacecraft slowly gliding through space like boats.
For Hell or High Water I used the lower deck as a space to explore and extend my work inspired by sci-fi themes, isolation and the alien figure. I was thinking about how the air receiver tanks resemble the isolation helmet designed by sci-fi pioneer Hugo Gernsback, editor of Science and Invention magazine, an idea I had previously explored in Isolation Helmet.
The work takes the form of a 360 video constructed from my own drawings of The Pods. Within this environment, the Facefilter is positioned as if it is looking out from within the openings of the structure, animating the idea of enclosed bodies and contained viewpoints. Originally released on Instagram and Facebook, the filter is now no longer supported on those platforms and remains as part of the documented work.
Alongside the 360 video, I developed a series of soft sculptural tentacled hands made from fleece fabric, with elongated fingers and suction details. These were hand-sewn and designed to extend the creatures seen within The Pods, emerging from the openings of the structure.
The version shown in the accompanying video is an early test piece in pink fleece. The final sculptural hands used in the installation were white and had longer, more exaggerated fingers. These were installed within the physical exhibition space of LV21, appearing to extend from the pods within the ship.
As the exhibition took place during Covid-19 restrictions, the work was only experienced in person by a limited audience. The installation is now documented through exhibition footage.
The Pods is a work made for Hell or High Water, a group exhibition responding to the historic lightship LV21 on the River Thames in Gravesend. Originally conceived as a weekend of live art exploring life’s transitions, adversity and transformation, the project was adapted into a digital format due to Covid-19 restrictions.
My initial proposal for Hell or High Water was to develop my work along the theme of isolation, which became much more relevant during the Covid-19 lockdown. I love the space inside the Light Vessel 21 ship, particularly the area beneath deck, which to me resembles the images of spacecraft from science fiction in TV and film. Ships are so closely tied to how we view space travel through the lens of sci-fi; we picture spacecraft slowly gliding through space like boats.
For Hell or High Water I used the lower deck as a space to explore and extend my work inspired by sci-fi themes, isolation and the alien figure. I was thinking about how the air receiver tanks resemble the isolation helmet designed by sci-fi pioneer Hugo Gernsback, editor of Science and Invention magazine, an idea I had previously explored in Isolation Helmet.
The work takes the form of a 360 video constructed from my own drawings of The Pods. Within this environment, the Facefilter is positioned as if it is looking out from within the openings of the structure, animating the idea of enclosed bodies and contained viewpoints. Originally released on Instagram and Facebook, the filter is now no longer supported on those platforms and remains as part of the documented work.
Alongside the 360 video, I developed a series of soft sculptural tentacled hands made from fleece fabric, with elongated fingers and suction details. These were hand-sewn and designed to extend the creatures seen within The Pods, emerging from the openings of the structure.
The version shown in the accompanying video is an early test piece in pink fleece. The final sculptural hands used in the installation were white and had longer, more exaggerated fingers. These were installed within the physical exhibition space of LV21, appearing to extend from the pods within the ship.
As the exhibition took place during Covid-19 restrictions, the work was only experienced in person by a limited audience. The installation is now documented through exhibition footage.