SUBTERRANEAN HOMESICK BLUES

Solo-exhibition at KINGS Artist-Run, as part of their Stray Voltage program. 10 April - 4 May 2025. 

Digital video, 12 minutes 6 seconds, thermal blankets.

Subterranean Homesick Blues unfolds in the aftermath of an undefined, semi-apocalyptic event, evoked through stock footage of the archetypical harbinger of doom—detonating atomic bombs. Solitary survivors are left to their own devices, devoid of purpose, in bunkers ranging from the make-shift to the luxurious. The architecture of the bunker is explored through ever-shifting environments, mirrored by the internal architecture of fragile minds, grappling with newfound states of post-trauma and claustrophobic self-surveillance. Utilising a mixture of found, AI-generated, and self-shot footage, the work closes in on itself, asking abstract questions about the compulsion to persist at all costs. When the world as you once knew it has ended, the only remaining source of stimulus might be to spike your drink with some undisclosed green concoction, feed off mechanosensory information, and play solitary ASMR.

Documentation by Sebastian Kainey.

Some stills from the video: