‘My Life in Presets’ is a computer-animated collage of virtual objects, pre-set movements and backdrops that have been assembled into a surreal mise-en-scène depicting a seated statue of the Hellenic god Zeus superimposed with a typing motion and surrounded by vernacular desktop decorations.
Once the violent and ill-tempered god of all gods, the orchestrator and provoker of earthquakes, floods, droughts and wildfires, Zeus now finds that his mighty thunderbolt has become a tame and useless, unplugged keyboard.
Shown from the perspective of a conference call, he is typing animatedly, completely absorbed in the virtual space, yet, oblivious to his physical context. Sitting in the middle of a flooded landscape, his back turned to a windsock lightly moving in a breeze, the next ecological hazard awaits...
By means of presets which allow, with a simple click, to add complex motions and objects to a 3D scene, the animation leaps forward in time from the creation of an Attican bronze over 2000 years ago - and now homed in the Athens National Archeological Museum - to the creation of a virtual twin performing a set of standardised, disembodied tasks.
Presets are the great filters of sameness. They are emblematic of a society increasingly homogeneous in its aspirations and occupations and a life in which everyday pursuits increasingly unfold in the globalised virtual space.
‘My Life in Presets’ comments on the increasing uniformity in the world; as cultural inputs, economic factors, and political orientations of societies expand to results in the same economies, same behaviours, same ambitions, same dreams for the future.
The certificate provides the collector of the NFT with access to an image showcasing the wider setting of Zeus' world.
In Benefit of Toilets for All.
This work uses a Fair Trade Art certificate and 50% of the artist’s proceeds from the NFT will be donated to Toilets4All, a charity which contributes to closing the huge gap in access to clean and dignified toilets for the world’s population, leaving no one behind.