incubator for emergency smiles

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Incubator For Emergency Smiles.

Mixed media, robotics, raspberry Pi

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It’s not our fault; unfortunately, we are living in increasingly uncertain times, which can trigger mass boredom. I don’t mean boredom in terms of staring at a wall or waiting for a delivery. This kind of boredom can be useful as it lets the mind wander away into potential genius. I’m talking about a restless, existential boredom of repetition.

A relentless battering of the same old news, the same cuts to funding, the same negativity day in day out. We are forced to develop coping mechanisms to survive the bad news. You only need travel on the tube to notice a sea of miserable faces scrolling hopelessly across their phones for a glimmer of humour or distraction.

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We effectively distract ourselves with mechanical stimulation. Ridiculous videos, memes and excessive posting to let everyone know we still exist; with the goal of achieving temporal satisfaction, feelings of self-worth and positive reinforcement to our lives. Forever distracting ourselves from the boredom, repetitiveness and perpetual apologies of the current climate.

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But what happens when we become too bogged down too even be entertained? When we can’t even force a smile through our frozen, crusty and bored faces?