New Museum of Mankind

16mm double projection (modified to run at 8fps) | 30 min | 2016

In the museum a world of possibilities presents itself to the open and focused mind. An immense number of scenes can be created to appease even the wildest of imaginations.

This is not to suggest that museum making is easy, far from it, it has its own problems. Ideas must be considered, sets must be built and altered to suit exactly the requirements of the scene, props must be hired or bought, the correct angles for lighting and for a particular concept must be worked out and so on.

Most people would admit that in their particular line of work problems can arise and this is so very true of museum making, sometimes to the point that the problems never seem to end.

The first and most irritating is that of replicas that won’t cooperate. No matter how well trained or expensive, it seems that if they’re going to let you down, they will do so at the worst possible time. Among replicas, the main difficulty is deceptiveness. Their clever design has made their true objectives esoteric and capricious. When left to their own devices they will assume false appearances and enact unruly and bizarre scenes. Their deceitfulness is such that it can prove very difficult to convince yourself that you do not in fact inhabit the reality manufactured by their artificial minds.

However, if your museum’s scenes are to be successfully and truthfully enacted, your true state must be persistently maintained. In order to do so, at every moment of encounter, your emotions must be carefully monitored.

With the help of the Traumatoscope the following test will guide you through the most common scenarios you will encounter and give you the tools you will need to persevere in your mission to create a new museum of mankind.