Speed Up

Speed Up Screen-printed placards, 2017 Rudi Dutschke symposium, Lucy Cavendish College, University of Cambridge May 2017 The work Speed Up is comprised of screen-printed placards, eluding to a protest or demonstration. The placards are in essence simple, akin to something assembled on a kitchen table top. The slogan 'Speed up or Get Out of the Way' is a reference to the sociopathic driving force of unscrupulous CEOs of companies operating at the vanguard of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Below the text, functioning as a kind of ‘signing off’ are two ++ symbols, simultaneously hinting at Donald Trump’s casual use of “plus plus” to indicate a ramped-up executive order and also the computer language C++ upon which much of our computer programming language is still based. To the left and right of the text is the image of a walnut, indicative of the left and right Amygdala, the part of the brain that controls the human sensation of a pleasurable experience. The Amygdala is altered in response to our engagement with digital technology, releasing little dopamine hits every time we get a ‘like’ or a ‘ping’. This has accelerated our obsession with social media, leading to a constant wakefulness and appetite for short-term gratification. Speed Up is ironic, reversing the usual direct slogans of a protest placard, and instead presenting an undercurrent of aggression and coercion.