Gated Community Episode 2: Likeminded People
Digital video, 25'20".
Gated Community Episode Two – Likeminded People – was filmed during a month I spent living in a large ‘co-living’ complex in London’s Canary Wharf, on a self-initiated residency. In this film, the community is shaped through the branding, promotional materials and architecture of the housing. As with Episode 1, the construct of the ‘set’ comes into play, reflecting the narrow form of subjectivity that The Collective's building allows its residents. This episode includes characters that are not played by me and draws upon the cinematic tropes used in films about cults. The Collective is found not to be what the main character expected, but rather a cult of digital nomads running a ‘geographical pyramid scheme’. The central character played by myself struggles to understand whether these are indeed ‘likeminded people’ and feels concerned about whether she understands who she herself is, and how this space might shape her if she stays and connects with the people inhabiting it.
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