Seventy-seven per cent of people in the UK think the world has become more frightening in the last ten years. Epidemics, crises, plagues, terror, syndromes, traumas: our cultural environment fuels fear and alters the way we experience and manage it at a societal level. This ‘culture of fear’ furthers feelings of vulnerability, mistrust and isolation, it substantially alters the ways in which we relate to one another. Now, how do we sensibly balance our need for intimacy with our need to protect against emotional harm? To what extent are new communications technologies changing our notions of privacy in a fragmented and distrusting society?

The ‘Display of Affection’ is a technological device that lets you virtually caress neighbours or strangers in the street from the safety of your home.

How far are we prepared to distance ourselves from the world through technologically mediated interactions to feel safe?

CREDITS
Photographs: James Gilpin
Video: Ilona Gaynor
Thanks to: Jonas Loh, Veronica Ranner

APPEARANCES
The Awl, Viewpoint magazine, Designboom, Gizmodo (US, Japan), Novo Argumente

2010
70x zoom camera, display, flocked MDF, Max/MSP software