‘Space’, ‘Future’ and ‘Neurodiversity’

David and I thoroughly enjoyed moving through the site however there were some elements that felt limiting. David struggles to read quickly so I was reading out the artist’s statements once we had clicked through based on the thumbnails that drew our attention. This was our primary way of choosing work to view which is of course somewhat flawed. We are both dyslexic and were equally perplexed by the complexity of many project descriptions. Alone I would have re-read multiple times hoping to absorb more with each read. However, when reading it aloud this complexity felt very inaccessible and made us wonder if a more simple explanation could accompany these in-depth texts.

We reverted to a more fluid and instinctive assessment of the projects based on what connected to us through the imagery, and in doing so, had a great appreciation for the calibre and variety of work on display. Much of our selection relates directly to David’s practice and his love of contrasting materials, complex structural forms and storytelling through objects. He particularly resonated with the work of Chloe Monks, Tian Chen and Emma Mounsey whose practice subtly relates to one another in an exploration of strength vs. fragility of the materials used. Danyang Liu’s project Mailbox was also a standout in its ability to visually illustrate bridges between the physical and cyberworld. This sparked an interesting line of questioning in regards to David’s frustration with the barriers he faces in accessing social media. The project talks of created ‘avatars’ that exist online. If you cannot create and maintain such a presence how can you be heard in that forum? This silencing echoes the reality of many disabled people in the 'real' world too.

We also enjoyed navigating via the tab buttons and again David chose to explore themes based on personal interests such as ‘space’, ‘future’ and ‘neurodiversity’.