From the Series
In the current political climate, we’re seeing an increasing paranoia regarding closed borders and immigration being fostered. The amount of visible proponents of nationalism is also on the rise, reinforcing anti-immigrant attitudes. The work of designer Alexa Pollmann challenges this and begs us to consider a different version of statehood.
Her project, Indivicracy – Tale of a Future Government, explores an imagined future form of statehood where governments are no longer territorial and instead, citizens are followed around by social networks. Within the project Pollmann has created four characters that exemplify the different reasons for people to take up migratory lifestyles. The characters are the Roamer, the Recreationalist, the Provider and the Motionist.
The Roamer comes from the idea of migrant workers, and thus his state “uniform” is based on blue overalls. The Recreationalist is like a tourist, influenced by ideas of American RV riders who leave permanent homes in pursuit of adventure. The Provider exists in the digital realm, and although he doesn’t physically move as much, he is the most global of the four. The Motionist is inspired by old cultures of peoples who travelled the world to entertain.
“Each of them has a motion that explains his motivation to migrate,” explains Pollmann. The Roamer, for example, who travels a lot back and forth between his home and where he is working, has a dance that moves to and from. “I wanted people to be able to understand the culture that would rise out of unsettled existence.”
