consume repeat #1, 1:04, 2016

Consumption is typically overlooked as a banality, yet this daily need to intake nutrients is a shared, cross-species necessity. Within each video in the consume repeat series, a specific behavioural characteristic from the activity of eating is isolated and made repetitive through the editing process. This repetition is done to highlight the unique evolution of each species in relation to their environment. Many of the species presented are endangered or have threatened habitats, and the particular ways in which they engage with their surroundings is a useful mechanism for emphasizing both the delicate balance and entangled nature of our shared ecology.

The obsessively repetitive behaviours are compelling yet somewhat comical mannerisms, and the isolated activities of consumption are set within a hyper-stylized and seemingly futuristic environment. The forced mechanization of the organic body highlights the human presence, albeit unseen, yet emphasizes inter-connectivity and entangled ecological relationships.

The videos are also a reflection of our own oftentimes-obsessive relationship with consumption. The series deals explicitly with the notion of eating and attempts to acknowledge the frantic nature around actual survival, and ideally to draw a connection back to ourselves in this sense, but the hyper-stylization and the word ‘consume’ allows more metaphoric associations with ideas around consumption, particularly in our culture of excess and abundance, and the obsessive yet unfulfilling ways in which this is often engaged with.

pmd 2025