Hazel Soper

She's so annoying and so irrelevant

Hazel Soper plays with the notion of the absurd. Looking at the way in which we communicate online and how the translation between online/offline worlds can often result in disconnection. This is reflected in her chosen medium, the digital TV against a backdrop of printed media is a mirroring of her explorations. The work conveys a sense of disorientation and madness amid a flurry of doubt and self depreciation. 

Hazel Soper comments on her work in the exhibition:

"Through my practice, I am currently exploring the relationship between the ‘online’ and ‘offline’ spheres that are present in our every day, social media saturated lives. Technology is now an essential aspect of contemporary life, and often our phones and our personalities are physically inseparable - does a reality without the online now exist? I am particularly interested in how human communication is translated into an online realm: how speech and body language are represented in the absence of a physical shared space.

This video piece explores the boundaries between online and offline communication: how the distance of the internet can influence what is acceptable to say; and to whom. It discusses the atmosphere and emotions created by trolling, and whether this is 'real' or imagined."