DOOMSDAYERS

“In a moment of deep political polarization and high anxiety, the Doomsdayers download a plethora of societal and environmental concerns into objects fit for a not-so-distant tomorrow, caught between dystopic angst and utopic optimism. The makers in this group use digital, industrial, and analog processes that run the gamut, from ultraslick outer-space furnishings to ancient-looking relics recontextualized for a future civilization. The objects here take their meaning against the backdrop of a consumer landscape molded by capitalism, image oversaturation, and lightning-fast micro-trend cycles.

For some Doomsdayers, making is a way to reconcile the illusion of choice, which capsizes our self-actualization and the chance for a sustainable future. The cyber grunge attitudes and aesthetics on display show us how multiplicity acts both as a negative and a positive, from irresponsible mass production to new definitions of regeneration. Despite their ominous name, the Doomsdayers are planners, prop makers, and world-builders, designing hypothetical optimizations to our world through forms that appear distorted, shifting, or somehow in flux. For them, chaos is not the end but a portal to a new beginning.”