It’s What’s Inside That Counts
Rachel Maclean
A slick dystopian future imagines an extreme version of life online. The promises and threats of advanced consumerist social media are played out by hyper-beautiful pop idol ‘Data’ and a cast of hackers, viruses and spam embodied by nasty fairy-tale beasts in grubby baby-doll clothes. Using the language of gaming, advertising and tech-bro utopianism, Rachel Maclean reveals the rollercoaster ways in which social media builds us up and knocks us down; raising questions about how much we are being gamed by these systems.
Scottish artist Rachel Maclean makes complex and layered works that reference politics, fairy tales, celebrity culture, and more. Working across a variety of media, including video, digital print, sculpture, and VR, she has shown her work widely, both in the UK and internationally, receiving critical acclaim in the spheres of film and visual art.