Please Stand By is a narrative multimedia exhibition that explores the interplay of immersion and empathy.
Expressed through a fictional story, the narrative focuses on the evolution of media & communication technologies, specifically their trend toward personalisation, individualism and sensationalism.
The project aims to highlight the impact of these changes on the growing sense of isolation and polarization, while acknowledging the role other societal factors may also play in such situations.
The audience is given the opportunity to ‘step into the shoes’ of another, to better understand the nuances and complexities of how these issues affect the lives of real people, particularly the most vulnerable.
The exhibition uses elements of interactivity, tangibility, novelty and nostalgia to drive the connection between the audience and the main character, Ailis.
The space is broken into 6 ‘stages’ each representing a period in time in the story, from Ailis’ childhood in the 1980’s to the modern day. Each stage contains various media artefacts, both physical and digital, audio and visual.
These artefacts may drive forward the story, create a sense of atmosphere, provide extra hidden information for greater context, or serve a combination of these purposes.
