Urban Stories

Mark Doherty’s work is concerned with stories by its very nature. The work takes the form of a world narrative, building a futuristic dystopia with its own history, politics and culture. On closer inspection, it becomes clear, however that all that exists within this futuristic society is really drawn from present-day life, as is the case with all works of science fiction.

Many of the characters moving through the urban spaces of this constructed world sport outlandish fashions, but these same fashions parade the streets of Tokyo every weekend, or grace the catwalks of high-end fashion shows. In reality, Mark’s work is not a projected future at all; rather, it functions more like the Lilliput of Gulliver’s Travels. It is our own world once removed.

In the tradition of satire, it takes our society and exaggerates its oddities and foibles. Its urban stories are our urban stories. Within this constructed society we see the same problems; overcrowding, class divisions, pollution, violence and the results of mans inhumanity to man. And of course this begs the question; why create a world in which to depict these problems. Isn’t our own reality harsh enough to demonstrate society’s failures? Perhaps. But the fact is that people are bombarded with graphic images of a world in turmoil every day. Society has become desensitised to it own catastrophes. Hence Mark’s work takes a step outside our own world and presents us with one that is at once familiar and foreign. Utilising dark humour, it allows us to laugh at our own weaknesses and the absurdity of humanity’s current situation. And in doing so, it turns the joke on us.

Mark’s work primarily focuses on humanity’s parasitic relationship with nature, and our belief that we can fix the nature of this relationship without really changing our approach and, more importantly, our attitude. Rather than address the reasons we have put the environment into the state it is currently in, we endeavour to develop technological advances that will allow us to maintain our current lifestyle. In doing so we attempt to postpone the problems for a future generation, claiming that we are dealing with them now, when now may be already too late. While Mark’s work is not anti-renewable energy, it highlights a cautionary note; technology is only as good as how we use it, and cannot truly solve our problems for us. Considering our track record with scientific advancement in the past, the works projection of the future may be far too optimistic.

November 2009