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We all have a relatively consistent sense of what goes on in office buildings, those models of efficiency, the polished spaces and high-profile interiors sheltering a smooth mechanism of hierarchies, workflows and trade secrets.
A sanctuary for productivity is what these buildings are there to provide, but after hours, with a lone guard on the ground floor, and the nightshift janitors haunting the corridors, the vacant spaces seem to emanate a sick soul, revealing the darker elements inherent in the pursuit of profit.
Playgrounds is a series of short films set in digitally reconstructed corporate office spaces. The project originates from a set of photos taken at night in the City of London, inspired by the uncanny atmosphere permeating the dry interiors of corporate offices after hours. Each film is an animated slow-motion tracking shot, imperceptibly moving through the corridors, rooms and lobbies of anonymous office buildings. Through the camera movement, traces of obscure human activity within alienating vacant spaces are revealed.
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Acknowledgments
- Tim Olden, for his overwhelming patience and support.
- Noam Toran for his insightful advice.
- Kjen Wilkens and Gunnar Green who both sacrificed their time and accepted to perform unexplainable actions in front of a green-screen while Hell was breaking loose all around us.
- …and everyone who kindly accepted to have his computer hijacked during the production of the project.
Related Links
- The City on Flickr. This photoset contains some of the shots I originally took in the City of London which inspired the project.
Exhibitions / Screenings
- Abandon Normal Devices festival, Manchester, 2010
- 100% Design, London, 2009
- RCA Degree Show, London, 2009
- RCA Interim Show, London, 2009
