-(DIS)CONTENT

Self-portrait digital video, 2022

In (dis)content Meg employs her artistic direction, writing and production design in a series of performed ‘living pictures’. In this short 5 minute film Meg brings to life, with dramatic staging, the emotional experiences that happen behind the addictive blue glow of our smart phones. In the early 19th century ‘living pictures’ were a genre chosen by women in the suffragette movement as a form of protest for their dramatic emphasis on staging, pose, makeup, lighting & facial expression. Using the same agency, Meg performs like a GIF using powerful social media allegory to etch a lasting impression in the minds of audiences. Meg draws on the 10 years she’s spent exploring how social media can impact on ourselves. Normally Meg would be an active participant within the work as her persona Megastar, a hyper-real version of herself. This is the first time she removes the mask and ‘speaks’ in her own voice through a spoken word narration. On turning 40 Meg felt it was important to make this work now as she belongs to the last generation with an analogue childhood. Those behind her never experienced the creation of identity without social media. Meg hopes her voice bridges both generations to tell her story, to tell our story.

Meg is supported by Trowbridge Town Hall as a studio artist. She was supported in making this film by The Arts Council of England receiving a ‘Developing Your Creative Practice’ grant for research and development 2019-2021. Meg’s digital video (dis)content was then funded in full by an Arts Council of England National Lottery Project Grant. (dis)content premieres at Trowbridge Town Hall Arts cinema before being released online. An art exhibition accompanies the digital video. 

Meg will be partnering with leading mental health agencies to explore wellbeing & the impact of our phones, delivering workshops for young people exploring the relationship to their phones, social media and mental health.