What if I was a Rat?

When viewing Ilona Huss Walin's piece "What if I was a Rat?" immediate references to the human condition began to flow through my over-mediated cranium. Whether the artist was aware of the overwhelming effect and reflective questioning of this piece, we will probably never fully know. A barrage of metaphorical, multi-narratives and ironies, offer the viewer multi-layered insights and poignant subtexts' that are not altogether affirmative, even though at first it seems quite humorous.

The rats are placed in a human-social construct and the artist asks us to watch them play out humanistic roles in a designed, made physical, living space. It's a kind of real-time Big Brother scenario, with rats (obliviously) taking centre stage. The set is a scaled-down model, of Ilona's own home; mimicking much of the contemporary family or homely trimmings that we are all familiar with. The rats are surrounded with generic, domestic western furniture that has been delicately crafted with an accurate sense of detail, made to scale, specifically for the rats starring in this parodic, networked show.

In the theatre, or rather the room there is a small television and it is left on permanently, invading their imposed trappings. We can just about see what is featured on the mini television as they themselves ignore it. At first we laugh at these rats and the spectacle before us. They are like toy things. Products for our cultural entertainment, yet they do not comply with our socially constructed, emotionally standardized desires. They are doing nothing of any interest in front of us that fulfills what we would term as entertainment. We soon realize immediately that they are not exuding any thespian mannerisms or actions for us to emotionally consume, they are just doing their thing.

In this work we can see aspects of ourselves reflected back at us. Baudrillard in his study called ‘Critique of the Political Economy of the Sign' wrote "the TV Object was becoming the centre of the household and was serving an essential 'proof function' that the owner was a genuine member of the consumer society". Meaning that without a television we feel insecure, not part of the collective state (of mind), nation or worldly loop.

What is worth acknowledging here is, that using rats in such a contained environment immediately brings about the connotation of "lab rats". Many of us are aware of the experimentations that have happened through the years on such animals, and not just rats of course. When viewing these scuttling animals in the room set up by Ilona Huss Walin we can easily imagine, visualize ourselves in their place, being experimented on in a cultural sense, the scene is loaded with parallels to the human condition.

One of the interesting aspects of using and exploring visual and audio creativity via an Internet based medium such as this is, that the medium and its variable futures are not fully resolved yet. The format is still fresh and prediction is speculative in respect of where it will go and how it will be used by society in a wider sense. It would also be useful to note that controls over future net-based broadcasting such as this, and let's not forget the Internet in this activity, might be stunted in the name of anti-terrorism, the protection of corporate interests or any another excuses handed down via such hierarchical institutions.

One thing that we can be sure of, is that much inventiveness and creative talent has been applied to in exploring the multi-various potentials of this medium to the full, consciously engaging and coming up with awesome facilities such as that designed by NonTvTv broadcasting, transmitting real-time projects that can last over a month online. The timescale itself challenges our notions of time and what it means to us, also challenging our patience. With a directed intelligence breaking away from the traditional, product led MTV generation and the dippy futurist monotheist, misdirected fetish, idea that speed is of the essence, Ilona Huss Walin used this facility successfully, managing to capture people's imaginations whilst dealing with the practicalities of an art work that has to be ongoing for a long duration of time, constant 24 hour viewing on the Internet.

The visceral-ness of "What if I was a Rat?" brings home to us that our physical selves are
limited by the social structures built around us, and that perhaps a rediscovering our feral selves is called for. Contemporary society has lost touch with its sense of being - predictable security, false normality, material comfort, bland entertainment, and the illusion of eternal youth. As we watch these rats nibbling away at the set around them it reminds us of how transient and disposable those objects before us and ourselves are in the greater scheme of things.

More information about the work.

Construction of this work by the artist check this link

The rats life was directly broadcasted and projected at Art museums in Scandinavia, during five weeks. Visit here Moderna Muséet, Stockholm.