PLEASE STOP WATCHING MY BREAKDOWN

PLEASE STOP WATCHING MY BREAKDOWN (2021) by Aluta Null
PLEASE STOP WATCHING MY BREAKDOWN is an augmented reality artwork created as a part of PHANTOM (2021), my solo exhibition done through Bubblegum Club's gallery residency program. PHANTOM dealt with the mind and perception, particularly in the context of mental health disintegration and addiction. I liken a lot of the feelings that emerge during battling these things to ghosts. PLEASE STOP WATCHING MY BREAKDOWN is an artwork containing a broken 1991 Philips television that serves as the target object for a video visible through a smartphone AR camera application. The broken TV and the superimposed video do not exist in isolation; they rely on each other for the purpose of the visual and conceptual XR story that is told. The video component of PLEASE STOP WATCHING MY BREAKDOWN showcases the cycle of a damaged anthropomorphized TV continually attempting to return to effective operation. The difficulty it faces in powering up and maintaining the activity is visible from its glitches and eventual final system crash. During this process, the fourth wall is broken as the TV desperately requests that its viewer looks away and stops watching the malfunction – pleading for privacy in its slow death. The TV attempts to correct its technical errors and, ashamedly, blames itself for its poor performance. Much like this emotional TV, augmented reality is unstable and inconstant, making this an example of the “medium”, truly, “[being] the message”. PLEASE STOP WATCHING MY BREAKDOWN is about fragility, destruction, and vulnerability as a spectacle before an audience. It is inspired by firsthand and observed vulnerability in art and on social media. PLEASE STOP WATCHING MY BREAKDOWN‘s creation was one of the catalysts for my DEAD THINGS practice.PHANTOM won a Fak'ugesi Award in 2023 and had its international premiere at IDFA DocLab in Amsterdam as a part of the Digital Storytelling category in the competition.
Extended Version YT link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJKFvEVectk
AR Demo YT Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et2M4GtzfjM
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Aluta Null (they/she) is a digital artist and game developer based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Aluta works in a variety of mediums including XR and games to create work that tackles topics surrounding technology, politics, perception, and pop culture. Aluta Null not only spotlights what many consider mundane, but also seeks to break the rules of technology while meditating on what art means, what the digital is, and what their fusion can be. Aluta Null’s LinkTree for more work: https://linktr.ee/alutas_theory