An Elevated Platform

A critique of social media, An Elevated Platform echos the polarised and often fickle intereactions within online behaviour and digital society (Van Bavel et al.,2021). The work places an an emphasis on physical presence to highlight the impact of this social exchange forming an ironic commentary on contemporary lifestyle.

The work forms part of an exploration into the underlying sociopolitical implications of digital interactive technologies including social media, AI image recognition, as employed in earlier works by Sandiland (Remote Dancing(2004-9), Trip Hazard(2013), Border Control(2022)). The installation develops Sandiland's ideas of public agency through physical action and embodiment, the central tenet of his PhD, Accenting Agency, Duets in Interactive Installation (2022).

Description:

An Elevated Platform is an interactive installation for galleries and indoor spaces of public throughflow. Participants step onto a one-metre square stage deck, to bring on the sound of a cheering crowd. Every physical action is met with applause and approval. Energetic gestures create wild responses: whistles and cheers, whilst smaller movements still beckon a polite appreciative clap. Yet, when the participant stops moving the clapping dies down as the audience grows impatient, calling for further action. True to 'Warhol’s' Fifteen Minutes of Fame (Finkelstein, 1966), An Elevated Platform gives everyone an opportunity to elevate their status and ‘perform’ to a responsive ‘crowd’ who praise and celebrate their idol’s every movement through a diversity of audience sounds. However, continued stardom is not as easy as it first seems. Unwitting performers have to keep moving to sustain interest, any slowing down is met with increasing discontent from the crowd. A kind of dysfunctional Karaoke for the body, An Elevated platform echoes a world saturated with social media, where every action we make is both celebrated and scrutinised in equal measure; where responses are often polarised, and attention spans diminished.

An Elevated Platform was created during an artist's residence at the Brighton Dome Arts Centre, Brighton.

Artistic Concept and Realisation, copyright Nic Sandiland.