Yesterday’s future and the reality of who we actually grew up to be…

Comprising a sound installation and pamphlet, this work by Patrick Goddard took Loughborough’s historical connection to the Luddites; and interviews with elderly local residents about technology, nostalgia and the future as its starting points. The pamphlet takes the form of a graphic novel and is as lighthearted as it is humorous. Two elderly women sit and discuss their lives, their lively and sometimes chaotic conversation jumping from discussions of technology to automated production, to a supposed 'ease' of communication and to wider comments on politics. The sound work, meanwhile, features recordings of the original interviews. Chopped and screwed, and combined with electronic sounds, the work gives the impression of time being out of joint: past hopes, forgotten futures and remembered promises shuttle in and out of view, accosting the listener with visions of past futures and futures past. This was installed in Queen's Park's iconic bandstand for For & Against's 'Pamphlet Day'.