Kelly Macbeth Mackay

I am a London-based experimental storyteller.

I push the traditional methods of communication into an experimental domain. My lateral approach to creative work has branched across journalism, spoken word, documentary scriptwriting, copywriting, publishing, editorial and founding an experimental sports magazine, Halftime London, in 2017.

My work deconstructs areas of sport, culture, technology, identity and society. Through experimentation I investigate how these integral themes in livelihood affect the human psyche and global behaviours.

My collaborations include: Nike, Gay Times, The British Photography Journal, Goodsport Magazine, and TEDx with a talk on the importance of supporting grassroots football; something extremely close to my heart as a footballer and coach for Sporting Duet Academy's U14 girls team, co-founder of the women's team and Sports Writer for We Are Social Sport on adidas football.

Collaboration is how the brilliance of creativity is conjured – get in touch with any ideas you may have.

I'm fascinated by human connection.

Fascinated by touch and what it tastes like; by the fear that has been applied to touch in the past year.

Where the future of physical connection lies and how we overcome attaching negativity to it.

In the current global climate of fear, who are we to dare to touch?

To connect with one another and feel part of the human network, in reality as well as in the digital sphere.

Are we capable of differentiating between the two anymore?

And what does the word connect mean to you?

Does it have a colour? A scent?

Perhaps it has a face.

A face of immaculate symmetry, like how humans bridge connections between words and senses.

Once the pandemic has been completed, will the human experience have different sensory connections altogether?

Will my online thoughts be downloadable into a sensory bank for ease of access?

Let's connect and discuss further.

Front

Contents

Birdseye

Back

Where do you go when you {dis} connect?

Fractured Realities is a three part multimedia invitation to look introspectively at your digital and physical Identity. Through the use of 28 aphorisms – a concise statement or observation of general truth – this collaborative project explores questions including: what is the visual language of connection; how can we reflect on living in-between a physical and digital reality and how can we connect the narratives of lived experience?

The performative publication active object exploring the self-reflective nature of the 28 aphorisms created for Fractured Realities. It is a constant work-in-progress with the reader as its curator - taking part while taking apart the printed material to assemble your individual narrative.

Medium:

Clear film, Fine Linen, Mountboard, soft Banner, polyester film

Divided into 4 sections, the performative publication explores the physical sensation of interaction through a range of materials, using visual languages including mapping, tables and timelines as structural devices to frame the poetic and reflective flow of the aphorisms.

‘1PR: Process’, offers an introduction into the journey of fractured Realities through a material timeline as a form of biography. The timeline can be divided into separate narratives through two layers or explored as a whole, unifying our collaborative journey.

‘2SR: Self-Reflection’ encourages the reader to dismantle the publication and interact with the aphorisms through the framework of a workshop, inviting people into the performative process of mapping.

‘3Co: Connection’ explores the mapped networks from previous workshops as a form of reference to see how the perception of language changes when seen from multiple perspectives.

‘4Cr: Creation’ is an invitation to build a three-dimensional connective language through a set of clear acrylic pieces as an installation that exists beyond the bound publication.

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Where do you go when you {dis} connect?

Fractured Realities is a three part multimedia invitation to look introspectively at your digital and physical Identity. Through the use of 28 aphorisms – a concise statement or observation of general truth – this collaborative project explores questions including: what is the visual language of connection; how can we reflect on living in-between a physical and digital reality and how can we connect the narratives of lived experience?

Medium:

acrylic

I CHOOSE TO AMPLIFY CONNECTION AS THE TRUE ESSENCE OF HUMANITY

EXISTING NOWHERE BUT RIGHT HERE

HOW DO WE COMMUNICATE IF ALL OUR TECHNOLOGICAL SYSTEMS FAIL

WHERE DO YOU GO WHEN YOU SIGN OUT

Connecting reflective materials and self-reflective language, the laser engraved panels explore the physical reflection of language through natural light and colour within urban environments. The panels invite those who live in the chaos of the city to experience a moment of self-reflection.

––

Where do you go when you {dis} connect?

Fractured Realities is a three part multimedia invitation to look introspectively at your digital and physical Identity. Through the use of 28 aphorisms – a concise statement or observation of general truth – this collaborative project explores questions including: what is the visual language of connection; how can we reflect on living in-between a physical and digital reality and how can we connect the narratives of lived experience?

Medium:

acrylic

An audiovisual interpretation of Fractured Realities as an alternative medium of self-reflection.

“I want to wake up when I fall asleep so that I can understand reality.

Understand the self, the collective, the society.

Find clarity in an open-ended conclusion – comfort in complacency.

Social media is screaming for the future, restricted by the present,

Wanting to feel connected while staying disconnected.

But what does it mean to “be human”

During a time when society is more focused on technological advancement than healthcare?

Daily chores to maintain an “identity” in a subliminally seductive world.

/Stay awake.

And yet humans continue to connect; orally, physically, digitally

Where do I feel most at home – online or in my skin/the mirror?

Our world is complex, so why mistake labels for clarity rather than accept complexity?

Find flow in our transient instability.

Comfort in finding beauty in humanity; transcending screens;

Accepting the disparity of connection in our social spaces

and choosing to amplify the true value of connection:

Us.”

––

Where do you go when you {dis} connect?

Fractured Realities is a three part multimedia invitation to look introspectively at your digital and physical Identity. Through the use of 28 aphorisms – a concise statement or observation of general truth – this collaborative project explores questions including: what is the visual language of connection; how can we reflect on living in-between a physical and digital reality and how can we connect the narratives of lived experience?

Medium:

Spoken word Film

Kelly Macbeth Mackay

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About

Royal College of Art