CASH FROM CRISIS

SHORT FILM - 2021

Crises always affect people‘s worries and needs, making them more susceptible to comforting claims, hoax products and lies. Energized water, placebo pills and DVDs with 60 minutes of a healing gaze are just a few examples showing how creative some “inventors” become to earn the extra dollar. As with many products that are promising the supernatural. An easy pseudoscientific alternative is offered in parallel to a scientific — but maybe uncomfortable — solution. These machinations boom during a crisis.

Based on our observations, we set out and created a fictional venture in the field of pseudoscience. How do you make such a convincing alternative, how much function is too much, what are matters of belief, and perhaps most important how does one end up creating these systems? Mainly focusing on the user interaction and the associated effects on the body – we developed our very own fake health tool. A light-brush. We then incorporated the product and our results into a short film.

Cash from Crisis was done together with Leo Mühlfeld and Valentina Sturn at Design Investigations, University of Applied Arts Vienna, Austria.