Common sense : micro dramas and other cardboard conundrums!

Abstract

This exegesis, titled 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘴: 𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘳𝘰 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘴, examines the often-elusive social etiquette that governs public, shared, and transient spaces. Through handmade photographic tableaux and stop-motion animation, scenes constructed from recycled and cheap materials draw on overheard conversations and ordinary encounters. Within these recognisable environments, such as supermarkets, petrol stations, and waiting rooms, the work stages these micro-dramas, that reconstruct familiar yet uneasy or unspoken social rules. From navigating self-checkouts to queuing on public transport, narrative scenes reframe personal discomfort as a shared social condition. Using crude materiality, pop cultural references, and a knowingly naïve aesthetic, each scene operates as a tool for exposing the uncomfortable and invisible structures we live under. The ideas that form the foundation of the work reflect contemporary anxieties around automation, assisted technologies, and surveillance. Photography here is used not as a recording device but as a false documentary, capable of exaggeration, speculative narrative and humour. Responding to the rise of automation and self-service technologies, the work investigates how public behaviour is increasingly shaped by efficiency-driven systems of power. In doing so, it situates photography within a longer tradition of responding to technological change, using constructed imagery to question the invisible codes governing contemporary public life.