The Last Generation (2007-8)

Artist Statement

Laser-cut plywood 3D object created in the form of a now obsolete greyscale 'Save-As' icon and containing 52 electronic text modules. Set within the simplistic ‘texture’ of the work’s icon, these animated texts silently allude to both loss & that which we are inadvertently saving up for ourselves through our inability to act ‘ecologically’. These are not crystal clear, sharp texts typical of contemporary LED displays, but rather blurred, low resolution, glimpses of a lost world of desire & oversight.

SHOWINGS:
1: Blurred Boundaries, Intersecting Territories in Art, Craft and Design (Touring Show), 17 November, 2007–23 February, 2008, KickArts Upper Gallery, Cairns, Australia. Curated by Russell Milledge and Robyn Daw.
2: Blurred Boundaries, Intersecting Territories in Art, Craft and Design (Touring Show), 6 March–5 April, 2008, Artisan Gallery, Brisbane, Australia. Curated by Russell Milledge and Robyn Daw.
3: Showing Off, Bathurst Regional Gallery, Bathurst, NSW, 7th Aug–20 Sept. 2009, Curated by Daniel Kotja.

PARTNERS: Kick Arts Contemporary Arts, Artisan Gallery, Bathurst Regional Gallery, Australia Council For The Arts, QUT Creative Industries,

MORE: The Last Generation is a laser-cut, plywood sculpture (1.2x1.2x0.3m) containing 52 miniature red scrolling LED text modules. It is shaped in the form of a low resolution greyscale computer icon once widely used to represent the 'Save as - to floppy disc” function on greyscale computer monitors. Each text alludes both to that which has been lost through rapid technological progression & the long term ecological damage being created through their rapid transition of technological objects from desirable commodity to waste stream.

The scrolling texts are intentionally blurred as a tactic for drawing attention to the constant superceding of prior technological products in favour of those with incrementally higher resolutions (often far in excess of user requirements). The work therefore sought to question the ICT industry’s lack of clear policies in terms of avoiding pre-planned obsolescence in their products as well as the toxicity of commonly employed materials – an agenda which at that that time had garnered limited governmental attention. The Last Generation was commissioned for a National touring design/art/craft exhibition in 2007-8.