The aim of this exhibit was to use the cutting edge of 21st century technology in order to go back in time, to the primeval manner in which human history perceived itself in an environment without technology, without the first technical tool for creating moving pictures out of still drawings. The piece presents the postmodern (as opposed to the Neanderthal) cave as the site of creation and living – the studio and creative lab. Contemporary life centers around a monster – an electrical stepper. The environment is metallic and made of silver slivers, unnatural and characteristic of modern life. The stepper is a universal concept. Running for hunting purposes has evolved into the development of muscles in a conventional room. The hunting sprint of the Neanderthal age has improved. The stepper track is adorned with Keith Herring pictures (from a flipbook). It is installed with a video camera that documents the stepper moves and pictures. The outcome is projected in sequence onto a television screen (similar to the silent movie of yore, which first created movement from static pictures).
The lab walls are covered with silver sheets. The silver sheets, in color and texture, represent the modern age. The stepper, that enables running, is a tool used to run on, while remaining in one place. It symbolizes the technological development, the modern way of life in which the individuals’ emotions remain the same as in past generations and we have not really progressed at all, as if the processes and changes are similar to running on the stepper – heading nowhere new. The urges, desires, fears and other emotions remain unchanged.