Motionographer® Dopaminised

The moving-image work Dopaminised critically examines the impact of contemporary digital infrastructures on human emotions, attention, and identity, revealing how these experiences are transformed into extractable data. It exposes the psychological and cultural consequences of existing within systems engineered for behavioural manipulation. Drawing on the theories of Jean Baudrillard, Mark Fisher, and Shoshana Zuboff, the work argues that social media platforms not only host experience but actively reconfigure it, reshaping how individuals perceive themselves and relate to others.

Here, users function as both product and labour, feeding algorithmic systems that monetise emotional engagement while eroding personal autonomy. Set within a dystopian landscape, Dopaminised reflects Fisher’s view that capitalism restricts our ability to imagine alternatives, depicting a digital terrain where attention is commodified and subjectivity grows fragile.

Referencing Baudrillard’s hyperreality, the work interrogates how curated representations displace lived experience, making authenticity elusive within a metrics-driven culture. Its focus on dopamine-based design reveals how platforms encourage compulsive use, emotional volatility, and declining well-being.

The masked traveller symbolises both loss and resilience, while minimal movement underscores disconnection and loneliness. Ultimately, Dopaminised gestures toward reclaiming attention, presence, and imagination, inviting audiences to envision futures beyond extraction and algorithmic control.