June 14-16, 2021 Camberwell College of Arts, Gallery Space 45-65, Peckham Road

Mehzabin Maleque
Remember to create, create to remember.

How does the visual impact of elements affect and influence our memory? This year I found myself being very interested on memory, how our brain works as a storage of information and wanted to explore ways to make a more memorable experience through technological pseudo reality. With the evolution of technology into daily life, we now live in a world of experience driving global connectivity. People shares moments on social media, people learn of youtube, technology was never there to help us tell stories in the past, but today it’s helping unlocking the power to tell stories better than even before. And with the rise of virtual and augmented reality technologies, we are being given the opportunity to bridge those communication gaps even further through directive experience. Virtual and augmented reality are among today’s greatest immersive technology trends… but can they be used for more than just gaming and entertainment?Throughout my work, I was trying to figure out my own voice, on how I can communicate about memory in an effective, unique and personal way. I came up with this idea of using memory card games, which is a game for kids, very simple and innocent. But then taking a twist, using strong messages of social and political current issues onto the cards. Reiterating the memory of social problems through the use of repetition to make the memory stronger. The idea of choosing a card with a social problem, refers back to the concept of awareness, as one need to remember an issue in order to be able to fix it. The idea of looking for the matching card among the other social aspects refers back to the concept of identifying a problem among many (having the memory of it) to be able to take it out of the game.Throughout my whole research the strength and impact of visual means of communication was undeniable, and pretty obvious was the conclusion that what we believe to be simple and innocent ads, actually play a major role on affecting and influencing people’s decision making. That being said, it is important to consider that the constant exposure of sexualised advertisements towards today’s society has its good share of mental repercussion on its people, leading them to normalise verbal and non verbal sexual harassment, and in worst case scenarios even bringing up to rape cases. In my third project I decided to denounce the repercussions that sexual ads can have on people, by placing an existing Dolce & Gabbana advert in relation to a pseudo-real scenario, and highlighting the contrast between the ‘Innocent’ and ‘aesthetically pleasing’ sexual ad, and the gullible, disgusting act of sexual violence. I produced my work through old school animation methods such as the stop-motion, by drawing each and every frame digitally. I decided to keep both colours and sounds on a monochrome level which was effective on setting up a a serious tone, and build up a sense of tension and suspense.

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