Sam Hutchinson – Two Thousand and Nineteen *84

The DIY aesthetic is dead. It is at least dead, as an effective method of protest, or self-care, or placebo. Instilled behaviour is under no scrutiny from the masses, a normalised acceptance of the machines and catalysts that contribute to ‘the self’ as an independent being. What does it mean to re-use societies waste, an upholstering of redundant mass? Hutchinson depicts a limbo state of this placebo- somewhere between total grounding and a conscious submission to one’s self, one’s own personal fantasy. An unapologetic and matter of fact representation of extremes, between the inconsistent mania of hyper-reality and emotion, and the numbness of the mundane, autonomous body. He critiques the guise of free will, an anti-establishment sentiment hidden amongst a corporate aesthetic, camouflage of the lower classes to mimic and join those that use hierarchy for their personal gain.

Both satirical and cathartic, ‘2019*84’ is a submission to the surreal and a reimagining of ‘the best of a bad situation’. Surrounded by visceral stimulation, an oversensitivity to surroundings developing too fast; barriers both mentally and physically are frequently dominating how physical space is accessible. There is an insensitivity to the human condition, forever within restraint, and hierarchy that turns one against another; utopias are imagined, but only within means.

Are you really happy? Maybe thats the wrong question to ask.

What is the definition of something which doesn’t exist [typed into google], it said ‘existing only within possibility, not actuality’. The digital realm, an ever developing tide of information, is reduced instantly to nothingness, outdated form and shape-hyperreality and shells of something superior. Objects and materials of superficial value, art world tropes and motifs of the ordinary, re-homed where they were found.

Red brick, northern terraced housing. Primary colour. Minimalism. Too expensive. Grinning and bearing it. On, off, on. Several forms of communication, all day, every day. Constantly adding to the masses of redundant information and technology. Everything is ok and you’re doing just fine. The sky is blue and you have a job. You’re part of society.

Supported by Arts Council England, The Tetley and the University of Leeds, for the PAGES New Voices project 2019