THE LITTLE PEOPLE ARCHI. FDN. VIDEO

THE LITTLE PEOPLE

2016

Clients: The Architecture Foundation, Spectator Magazine

Responsibilities: Concept Development, Editing

Context

‘The Little People’ is a short film that exhibited as part of The Architecture Foundation’s event titled “What’s That Thing?” in partnership with the Spectator Magazine. The event brought together artists and art critics, focusing on the concept of bad public art – “whether grand public commissions, street graffiti or performed acts in civic space, public art is playing a prominent and contested role in city-making.”

Challenge

To create a short film that highlighted the tension in democratic societies that turn a blind-eye to civic issues related to exploitation and immigration. Although these are subjects we are bombarded with via various news channels, these stories rarely come to surface on a larger architectural scale.

Opportunity

Typically any art form showed in a low resolution, choppy, rough style may be assumed to be bad or unfinished - especially when presented in a public space in which art is more often than not a refined or highly rendered piece. This short film's experience is intended to be counterintuitive and accessible, both because of it’s low resolution and the way it uses pop culture and childhood references to highlight the uncomfortable link between immigration, workers’ exploitation and a city’s infrastructure.

Public art, whether seductive or outright offensive, plays an important role in stopping the public in their tracks. ‘The Little People’, is intended to be projected onto the facades of iconic political buildings such as the Houses of Parliament, as a form of public art that serves to raise awareness.