Discomfort
Discomfort displays five life sized prints of digital characters in an abstract and comedic form to give an insight into the often overlooked experiences of discomfort. Each image references parts of cultural and social norms and environmental issues, visually communicating discomforts centered around these topics.
The characters and poses they hold also provide a feeling of discomfort. The exaggerated features and body shapes form strange figures, which also allude to the different discomforts the work explores.
“Cheers”
This is something I have experienced since being in the UK, it’s considered rude if you do not look the other person or people in the eye when you complete this action. The character exaggerates this and being surrounded by eyes further highlights the importance of the eye contact.
"Crisps"
This character references the discomfort of eating in public, especially foods that create a lot of noise when you eat, such as crisps. The character is dressed in simple ‘everyday’ entire to place them in a public setting. The character bares multiple heads exaggerating the volume one feels thy are creating when eating such foods. This also refers to the feeling of embarrassment that also comes with this, the other faces refer to the desire to not be seen when eating in public.
"After you"
This character is based on my personal experience, it highlights the moment when waiting for someone to pass in a small doorway for example and not being acknowledged or thanked for this gesture. The characters strong, wide pose emphasises the idea of people expecting you to step aside and let them walk through, this self-righteous behaviour can easily cause annoyance or irritation as you realise not everyone is respectful of one another. The characters headdress is also reminiscent of the Statue of Liberty, referring to the feeling of self-importance people have.
“It’s too bloody hot”
The inspiration for this character came from the effects of global warming on everyday life. The results of this left us with a unusually hot summer in the UK. It’s interesting to see how the country deals with the unexpected hot weather. A lot of people find this heat uncomfortable as it is not the norm for the UK, therefore don’t know how deal with it.
“Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”
This character explores environmental issues, focusing on the use of plastics and there pollution of the sea. It references the discomfort people feel when being given these items, when being aware of the environmental impacts.