How are you feeling today? was a site-specific intervention by London-based artist Eva Fàbregas for the Whitechapel Gallery‘s Window Space, running November 5 to 30, 2015. The third exhibition in the ‘Figures of Speech’ programme, curated by Cristina Ramos and contextualized within the framework of literary devices, Fàbregas explores everyday objects as carriers of our feelings and desires, and how these social actors circulate in our lives.
In the work, the infamous Microsoft Office assistant, ‘Clippy the Paperclip’ is placed behind the glass window. Four variations sit next to each other in a horizontal row, interacting with passers-by through a passive-aggressive attempt to anthropomorphise human emotion. The artist’s interest in the cartoon character seems to stem from her research into human-computer relations and the emotional bond that consumers are offered to develop with these interfaces.
Weather-dependent, the motifs are easily obscured due to the microclimate Fàbregas created, which causes condensation to form when temperatures fall. Through this process, the glass is also brought to our attention as a material or layer of mediation between us and image. Inviting us to interact with this ubiquitous avatar, the artist explores the new-incarnation, redundancy and muteness that is bound up with object representation.**
Exhibition photos, top right.
