New and Improved shows a manic flash-card script for positive thinking and self-improvement paced by an internal clock gone awry. Overloading
between directives and objectives: “I am…, I can…, I will…” the reader can’t prioritize between daily minutiae or life-changing goals. The handwritten
cards came from an actual exercise in behavioral modification, and revisit ideas from the earlier Time Project. It’s difficult to determine which goals for
maximum efficiency were self-generated, or which were influenced by an ever-sliding scale of cultural expectations and technological innovations.
It’s a poignant collision of conflicting ideals: the remnants of a stringent work ethic vs. self-regulated emotional development attempting to keep pace
in a post-Fordist global economy.
New & Improved, 2007, (2 min 21 sec), HD single channel video / sound, dim. variable