24/7 A WAKE-UP CALL FOR OUR NON-STOP WORLD
The Machine Zone
2019
Dimensions Variable
Steel, aluminum, servo motors
The Machine Zone
2019
Dimensions Variable
Steel, aluminum, servo motors
The Machine Zone
2019
Dimensions Variable
Steel, aluminum, servo motors
The Machine Zone
2019
Dimensions Variable
Steel, aluminum, servo motors
The Machine Zone
2019
Dimensions Variable
Steel, aluminum, servo motors
The Machine Zone
2019
Dimensions Variable
Steel, aluminum, servo motors
The Machine Zone, followback
2019
180cm X 139.43cm
C-type print on aluminium
The Machine Zone, contentcreator
2019
60cm X 44.46cm
C-type print on aluminium
24/7 A WAKE-UP CALL FOR OUR NON-STOP WORLD
Somerset House, London
October 31st, 2019–February 23rd 2020
Mat Collishaw
The Machine Zone, 2019
This work is inspired by the historic behavioural experiments of American psychologist B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) which explored the idea of random reward. Skinner’s work has been widely referenced in relation to the algorithms which drive interactions on social media, tapping into a subconscious primal side of the brain which is involved in motivated behaviours, thus exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology. Skinner’s ‘operant conditioning chamber’ demonstrated that random reward created a kind of constant uncertainty that then encouraged a behavioural loop.
Skinner’s ghost has persisted into the modern day, a quiet spectre among our statuses, likes, comments, and shares. Collishaw worked with a special effects designer to create these animatronic bird models which exhibit random repetitive actions.