Ever talk in your kitchen about a holiday destination or a product only to have that very thing pop up in your social media feed? Surveillance of you is constant. You are being covertly listened to. You are being manipulated. You are being watched.

You are being nudged.

The Nudge exhibition looked at the phenomenon of digital information harvesting and how information about you might be used, whether accessed with permission or not. 

Using sculpture, video, still images, performance, and the written word – Nudge invited visitors to experience an exhibition they may unwittingly agree to become part of. It brought together two practitioners familiar with the world of marketing but from very diverse directions.

Patrick Colhoun’s sculptural practice has long used iconic pieces such as ceramic CCTV cameras, drones and even robot dogs. Because of the duality in the titles of the work, his work can often be seen to focus on the human side of these ultra functional forms. In Patrick Colhoun’s world, ‘Always Watching Over You’ is not just a CCTV camera watching you like Big Brother, it is a lost loved one looking after you. 

Esther Haller Clarke’s practice gravitates towards a reflection of people and place, how we create space and how we behave and respond to it. Esther has been on the ‘other side’ of the camera, creating brands, setting strategic direction, producing exhibitions and creative events for public sector and private clients for over twenty years, utilising her creative process of research imagery and writing, she encourages engagement and participation.

Combining these practices in an unconventional partnership yielded a nuanced take on the ethical or otherwise nature of ‘Surveillance Capitalism’.  Designed to encourage and subtly unnerve,

Nudge was a dystopian interactive and observational experience that featured you.