Elaine Whelan
she/her
I miss the smell of freshly cut grass
Funeral ephemera is recontextualised , serving as a tangible intersection between the physical and digital world. The installation evokes the sense of a cenotaph - an empty memorial - that calls to mind the liminal space between the digital and physical world.
Working across print, digital media and installation, my work is the pursuit of morbid curiosity through a post internet lens and questions our notions of existence, identity and memorialisation in the digital age.
My research takes us into the universe of “Deathbots” - a chatbot created by my digital remains and data that results in a simulation of my “parallel existence” (or digital afterlife) in the virtual world. Through conversations with my “deceased self” I(we) explore the fragility of our online and offline legacies, our perceptions of mortality and the potential consequences of condensing our being into lines of code.
Engraved limestone 30cm x 60cm
Installation view
error404, funeral flowers
exist, emergency exit bar
Touching grass is not enough, A0 print
Hair locket, keychain
Imissyou
Find me in your loving memory, mousepad
Video piece installation