the sun sets

2020, London (commissioned by Barbican Centre)

Made in collaboration with Jemima Yong.

Inspired by Operation Moonshot*, international competition and the UK’s increasing isolation, this piece was commissioned in response to the pandemic.

With a space suit made out of British print media, the character views everything they comes across in the public space as a flag that they can plant, land they can colonise. The Operation Moonshot Space Man is desperate, trying to hold on to power at every opportunity. Reflecting on the disintegration of the British empire, the piece also responds to the Barbican Stories, which recounted experiences of discrimination in the workplace and the colonialism that underpins these spaces. This work was removed from the Barbican’s exhibition after the publication of Barbican stories.

*a leaked document in the British Medical Journal said the UK government planned to carry out 10m rapid Covid tests a day by early 2021.