Text from Upstaging Nature Catalogue. Installed in Sydneham Woods. 2007
When you or I walk into nature we become self aware. We have to watch we don't slip in the mud, think about balance as we climb over a fallen tree and possibly duck awkwardly under a branch. If you are on your own looking at plants and animals, thinking about how they interact or the way leaves turn towards the light then you are the only thing there thinking like this.
This knowledge distinguishes us from nature. We win, we are the best! Yet on a day to day basis in the city, we forget our sense of self. We loose ourselves in a sea of people, forgetting each and every one of them has an 'I I I I I I I I I I ' or a ' YOU YOU YOU' sensibility beeping away. The piece continues on this train of thought.
6 units containing flashing L.E.D.s and electronic beepers The L.E.D.s on the side of each unit are arranged to spell out a word. The LEDS and beepers will be synchronized. Each unit will beep - flash at a different rate to the other units. ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU WE WE WE WE WE WE WE WE WE WE WE WE I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I US US US US US US US US US US US US THEM THEM THEM THEM THEM THEM THEM THEM THEM Text available with YOU ME + IT installed in London Fields Park. 2007. YOU, ME + IT Six units up six trees in London Fields Park. Each self contained unit beeps and flashes a word. They are unremitting and dim-witted but produce something more complex that the sum of their parts. Together in the park they talk/beep about self awareness and reflect the dysfunctional community that surrounds them.