SECRET KEEPER
BY SIAN FAN
Secret Keeper is a pair of retro-futuristic-pseudo-spiritual video sculptures inspired by anime, 90s electronics and optimistic futures. Designed to emulate jade and rose quartz the devices seek to become metaphysical talismans, which explore the tension between the easily eroded nature of scientifically defined trust and the conversely resolute nature of spiritual belief.
Responding to issues within FemTech the works explore the extreme level of intimacy and trust that is required to impart personal and bodily information to a device. Considering how the user may have never shared this information with anyone before, rendering it an effective secret, told exclusively between user and device.
In addition to intimacy and privacy, the works delve into issues of trust, in particular drawing out its temporality and vulnerability. Reflecting on how in recent times we see potent states of distrust even when presented with evidence, existing simultaneously with unshakable spiritual beliefs. The work inverts these tensions to instead consider and harness the power of belief and seeks to reconcile these seemingly opposing states.
As such the works take inspiration from talismans, as physical embodiments of spiritual belief. The materials emulate Chinese jade and rose quartz, the former bestowing transparency as sign of quality, which in turn is a metaphor for a desire for transparency in technology and in data. The pieces combined form the yin yang shape, representing larger states of tension and coexistence.
@sianfan
Audio by Ben Dixon