Guy Pryke

Capturing ‘Nowness’ is a huge motivation within my work. In my pursuit of finding it, I often look to nature and our environment in order to discover what causes these shifts in our society. How does the way that people go about their everyday lives contribute to sculpting our environment?

I was curious; It seems that the majority of our country is striving every day to get back to 'the way things were', at the same time as desperately trying to forge a different future. John Davies' work has always resonated with me as his photographs “Stop these shifting landscapes for long enough for us to not just see what these changes are, in detail, but what they might mean” (Parsons, 2011). Creating speculative design was a key asset to this work, I was looking to make something that was both recognisable in the future but also a testament to a once-flourishing society.

My intention was to create a semiotic time frame through which to consider how people should identify themselves within their environment, as they navigate their everyday lives in the future. Something tangible and embedded within the ground, a landmark of sorts.Built to withstand 100 years and be recognisable as a mark of what our environment once was, a memory to cherish and reflect on. Bringing a sense of guidance to people of the future.