Where the heart is, Home alone 2, 28 days later, The Road, Blast from the past, all of these films include a character who is forced to take refuge in some sort of superstore environment. It's brilliant, in a terrible kind of way, but I still would love to spend a day or a week surviving in a Tesco's extra or Harvey Nichols. It's like a modern day camping session; fending for yourself in a way unusual to your everyday routine and yet it's all so easy. Instead of a fire, there's an easy bake oven, or better yet processed and tinned food, ready for eating without all that hunting or fishing. Need some entertainment? What do you think the rollerblades in ailse 2 are for...
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| 'Where the heart is' (2000) |
Funnily enough there's normally a tent and sleeping bag in these scenarios too.
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| where the heart is, hardships of living in a wallmart |
As an architect it's important to recognise patterns in living, and this emergence of 'getting stuck in a shop' type scenarios in films and television probably represent what people today need (or don't need) and their living patterns/routine. For example in 'The Road', the two characters find comfort and satisfaction beyond just filling up their stomachs when they consume the food within the bunker. It's as if these products identify us, comfort us with the familiar. By having access to such a large amount of things our greed is sated, the products seem endless and suddenly choice is introduced, and it's this choice that makes us indvidual. I think by now this is just turning into a description of how consumerism works, but it's interesting to me anyway; that and these infinite spaces. Also reminds me of the borrowers.
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| Borrowers infinite supply of items |
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| Lost ' Man of Science, Man of Faith' |
Also like how an idea of natural light is introduced to these spaces. Almost all are bunkers or warehouse type of environments and yet they have fake windows and plants.
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| 28 days later, shopping market scene (above) and water collector (below) |
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| Blast to the Past, fake garden |
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| The Road, bunker scene |
