SENSELESS
SENSELESS
CREDITS
After reading Richard Sennet’s anthropological and scientific studies, in which he states that technological advances have made us more and more detached from nature, creating a passive culture that deprives our senses, Glasgow-based photographer Laura Thompson (1988, USA) knew she wanted to reflect this thought in her photographic work. Thompson began to research cultures with roots in mythology and animism – the belief of the connectedness of everything on earth. She observed something striking about the costumes of these cultures, which covered the face and many times the entire body, transforming the person into a mythical being. The costumes made her think about urban myths like the Bigfoot, a creature neither completely human nor completely animal.
From these sources of inspiration, Thompson began to create modern day mythological narratives in which she explored themes associated with the dislocation of our senses. Her constructed “yeti-like” creatures, made of materials like disposable plastic forks, earplugs, vinyl gloves, car air fresheners or compact mirrors, each represent one of the senses. Neither human nor animal, they are shown wandering around in nature, surrounded by dunes, rivers, mountains and woods. Although these creatures look colourful and soft, the way in which they appear to stand apart from their environment, seems to sketch a warning future perspective.
