Escape Pod

Video (color, sound), media player, screen or projector, 20 min., seamless loop. Edition of 3, 1AP.
Escape Pod follows a golden deer through dreamlike environments of affluence and authority. In the work we encounter a riot gear boutique, immigration checkpoints, a duty-free store in the clouds, and a ultra-luxurious designer bedroom. Composed of one continuous tracking shot and maintaining commercial glossiness, the video installation shows a dystopian world of material desire.
Still from Escape Pod by Jonathan Monaghan, showing a black house on top of round beige architecture. Still from Escape Pod by Jonathan Monaghan, showing a white spaceship hovering above a modern bedroom. Still from Escape Pod by Jonathan Monaghan, showing a golden deer running across a landscape, glacier in background. Still from Escape Pod by Jonathan Monaghan, showing a small golden deer in a black and white duty free store. Photo of video installation Escape Pod by Jonathan Monaghan, large video monitor in white frame standing in white gallery space. Still from Escape Pod by Jonathan Monaghan, showing riot gear displayed in a wood-paneled luxury store.

installation view from Escape Pod, bitforms gallery, New York, 2015

Still from Escape Pod by Jonathan Monaghan, showing riot gear displayed in a wood-paneled luxury store. Photo of video installation Escape Pod by Jonathan Monaghan, projection in dim gallery space, showing close up of golden deer.

installation view from PAF: Festival of Film Animation and Contemporary Art, Olomouc, Czech Republic, 2015