Collection: 'We Are The Soup': Surveillance Capitalism Soup Cans

Surveillance Capitalism Cans Collection

Andy Warhol later developed his Campbell's soup can range by introducing versions with label and can damage; he then experimented with different colours in grids. With my dual lenses of irony and satire, it is 'surveillance capitalism' that I have in my cross-hairs and the colour scheme has turned Matrix-fluorescent green and black, pouring with the iconic digital rain.

The Wachowskis seminal sci-fi film, The Matrix is a key inspiration, which is why in the centre of the Campbell's can format, instead of Janus the two-headed Roman god, I have placed Neo, the human battery. In the film, this is before Keanu Reeves is unplugged into 'reality'. As I see it, we have a red pill - blue pill choice whether to have head down on our phones while crossing the road, or head up sensing the beauty of nature walking through the park. If people realised the impact for the future of humanity, of all the data - their very imagination - that they are sharing, would they be willing and able to 'unplug'?

There are a great many cans in this series, building up to the magic Warhol number of 32. Signed limited edition giclée prints and canvases are available to purchase individually, as well as part of compositions befitting a hi-tech world. To open the collection, perhaps I can explain one can design, ‘Alphabet Spaghetti: In a rich frictionless sauce.’ This speaks to how most of the world willingly accepts the free toys and tools offered by Google’s parent company Alphabet; i.e. ‘In Google We Trust’. This is because, they seem to make the navigation of our complicated lives in the third modernity, both frictionless and manageable. In so doing, we become interwoven with the Google digital spaghetti; whilst unbeknown to us using our data, Alphabet can spell out exactly who we are and predict what we are about to do. We and our children become human batteries for the computational power and richess of Alphabet Inc.

This is not a soup can.

This collection is currently being exhibited at a London gallery; if you would like to see examples, please see my socials and contact me via Instaglam or through my contact form (below)