The Revolutions That Did (Not) Happen
2021
28m24s

The Revolutions That Did (Not) Happen is set in the year 2085, one hundred years after my birth. It envisions a future in which political and social structures have collapsed due to wars, pandemics, and natural disasters. The once-turquoise oceans have turned into mudstreams, volcanoes erupt while people continue shopping for new clothes as if nothing has changed. In this world, a new society emerges based on equality, with women of color, like myself, at all levels of hierarchy. Yet, this society also carries totalitarian traits: human teeth as currency, identities replaced by grey suits, and humans and robots nearly indistinguishable from one another. Inspired by how, through the internet and social media, we increasingly resemble each other while being rewarded for our ‘individuality,’ the film unfolds as a meditation on the ambiguity of revolution—questioning the meaning of change, collective behavior, individuality, and the cost of work ethic. By imagining the future, the film exposes the shortcomings of the present.

This videowork is part of the permanent collection of Museum De Pont (Tilburg) and Leopold Hoesh Museum (Duren, Germany).