Impetus

Inspired by a UN study documenting the experiences of migrants selling flowers in Turin, Italy, Impetus uses flowers as a parallel to the movement of people.

The work explores both physical movement and the inner journeys that accompany it. Much as flowers turn towards sunlight, people move towards imagined possibilities—sometimes guided by an idealised destination.

A webcam and poseNet, a machine-learning body-position detector, allow the audience to become part of the installation. Their physical presence brings another layer to the work’s exploration of movement and agency.

The soundtrack draws on the audible memories of a migrant I worked closely with, capturing his year-long journey from Kurdistan to the UK at the age of thirteen.

Impetus asks audiences to consider the forces that shape movement and the choices available to different people: are we the mover, or the movable thing?