The Great Escape
The Great Escape introduces four fictional characters to explore the individual and collective need for escapism in western societies.
The narration of the human need to escape and refuse reality is perhaps as old as the history of mankind. Strategies of escapism aim for transgressions of the present and interruptions of the norm. The promise of a short-term exit resonates in them just as much as the design of an alternative reality or the overcoming of the immanence of history. These hypothetical film-props are contextually located between design fiction and ambiguous spaces of visual representation - asking, what we might miss in the real world.
Chapter I
NEO HUNTING
The world is running out of food. We need to produce 70% more food in the next 40 years, according to the UN. Yet we continue to over-populate the planet, consuming resources and ignore all the warning signs. But the ideal of self-su
fficiency and the vision of an urban arcadia has become true in the lifestyle of many metropolitans. Everyone is now able to produce goods, to communicate with anyone and to fulfill their basic needs without forgoing modern conveniences.
Neo Hunting deals with self-sufficient systems and cultural processes after the urban gardening movement and the related question of an individual weaning movement from food corporations. The tools for the Neo-Hunting Pioneer consists of a hunting set for urban spaces. It explores the individual dream of self-sufficiency and the possibility of breaking with different social, political and economic systems.
fficiency and the vision of an urban arcadia has become true in the lifestyle of many metropolitans. Everyone is now able to produce goods, to communicate with anyone and to fulfill their basic needs without forgoing modern conveniences.
Neo Hunting deals with self-sufficient systems and cultural processes after the urban gardening movement and the related question of an individual weaning movement from food corporations. The tools for the Neo-Hunting Pioneer consists of a hunting set for urban spaces. It explores the individual dream of self-sufficiency and the possibility of breaking with different social, political and economic systems.
Chapter II
THE ISLAND
In 2014 about 1 Million young people are refusing to be part of the Japanese society. The phenomena of the so called Hikikomoris is the story of a silent rebellion against the pressure of the neoliberal meritocracy. Focussing on the potential of social withdrawal and the possibilities of alternative social models, the utopian idea of a different society on a micro scale is reinterpreted and brought into a contemporary virtual context. Within the virtual micro nation S.U.I (Society of the United Islands) technologies such as drones, genetic engineering, bio-printing are accessible to every citizen, rather than being owned, administrated or distributed by venture capitalists and politicians. The proposed counterworld of the Island includes a virtual embassy, an official declaration and constitution. Moreover the micronation offers a social contract that defines the everyday.
Chapter III
HOMEMADE IN PARADISE
The Amish are the fastest growing religious community in the U.S. They are a group of traditionalist Christian church fellowships. Known for simple living, plain dress, and reluctance to adopt conveniences of modern technology, they are mostly settled in rural areas of Pennsylvania or Ohio.The promise of an isolated ideal society like the Amish, is an image of paradise. The fiction built around this paradise is a dystopian idea. Guided by their religious believe they choose radical methods to strengthen their community and therefore their personal ideal. Hidden in the isolated community they start to accelerate the decay outside the Amish paradise with one of the most dangerous drugs these days in rural areas. Crystal-Meth.
The meritocratic substance par excellence.
Chapter IV
VOYAGER
In 2025 the first human settlers will probably arrive on Mars.
By one-way-tickets.
VOYAGER aims to raise questions about the concepts of Fernweh or Wanderlust, the human self-conception and the moral question of terrestrial suicide. The notion of not coming back, opens up an exceptional scenario, unprecedented in the history of human space travel. Focusing on the experience of a lone traveller, the project also refers to the real planned mission of the dutch Mars-One organization. The objects embody an endeavor to bridge the gap between the imaginary and the pragmatic, or what it means to experience the illusionary freedom of space.
