Helen Anna Flanagan & Gavin Gayagoy at FACT

FACT presents a new multimedia exhibition as a result of two artist residencies and the work of the Studio/Lab, a dedicated space for nurturing and supporting artistic practice.

Helen Anna Flanagan and Gavin Gaygagoy have created two immersive spaces which examine social neglect and digital alienation, where one exacerbates the other. The works are located in Gallery 2, across two rooms resembling a haunted house stage set. Perfectly timed during what Halloween fans refer to as spooky season, these works carry a much scarier message than any seasonal costume – alienation and disconnection are terrifyingly common feelings in today’s hyper connected world. How can this contradiction be so commonplace?

Gavin Gaygagoy’s Doomscroll_1 is a direct exploration of our complicated relationship with smartphones with a particular focus on the overwhelming nature of digital information and its incessant stream. “Doomscrolling” refers to the act of spending an excessive amount of time online, especially reading the news which is inevitably an endless feed of negative information. 

Gaygogoy recreates the sense of being overwhelmed and out of control with a simple room, a centrally-placed desk and large wall projections on both sides. These quickly switch between different online spaces before giving the viewer a chance to familiarise themselves with their surroundings. To interact with the space, you can use any of the three controllers provided to play the game, with the ability to control the speed at which they navigate each space but the game remains disorientating with no specific destination.

Helen Anna Flanagan’s installation Burnt Toast completes the haunted house, together with a stack of old television sets and a narrow corridor covered in retro wallpaper (a nod to the iconic short story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman), leading to an oppressive bedroom-like space. Inside, you’ll find a film – a contemporary ghost story with the central character of Phill, a trained impersonator of magician Tommy Cooper who struggles with his mental health and unemployment. 

The exhibition is a dark one – the bright digital lights become blinding and overstimulating, echoing the disorienting experience of doomscrolling in our own homes. A semi-familiar domestic setting is rendered strange and unwelcoming, mirroring the unsettled state of the film’s protagonist. The result is a poignant display that urges us to sit with questions we too often push aside.