s.a.d (Seasonal Affect Disorder) in the tropics, is an ode to what will be lost in the future due to changing climate patterns. In this residency, I have asked myself a lot: “What will be lost? How will our domestic lives be transformed? How will it affect our vegetation at home?” In this speculative proposal, “real” plants no longer exist. This work is made from remnants of the real. The artificial ones do not try to replicate but glitch in their presentation hence the black and white textures. I made the plants from silver gelatin prints that are then laser cut into the shapes of the original plants. “[P]rendelo, vos!” is a white spiral neon that is a reference to the mosquito repellent coils used throughout the tropics in peak summer. In this imaginary, the rainy futures bring hoards of mosquitos and seasonal affect disorder prompting humanity to create reusable multi-function repellants (to repel depression + mosquito borne illnesses). The nuanced processing and reprocessing of information takes inspiration from Tristes Tropiques (1955) by Claude Levi-Strauss, a memoir by the renowned anthropologist and structuralist. Marcel Broodthears’ A Winter Garden (1974) and the dreary post-apocalyptic setting of Los Angeles in Blade Runner (1982) are loose inspirations. s.a.d in the tropics was created in residence at Radio28 in December 2022.
Photography by: Zony Maya