Janet Wright with "Free Evaluations" sign

In “evaluTEC,” Janet Wright, a character representing evaluTEC, a self-help company based on the concept of self-evaluation for self-betterment, sits at a roadside stand waiting for interaction. She connects with passersby by first offering them a complimentary self-evaluation to help them through times of change. Then, she asks the participant to fill out an evaluation of herself because she’s currently being evaluated by an on-looking camera.

This piece also features a website, evaluTEC.com, which allows for another less-personal and more frustrating avenue of interaction. The personal interaction and the virtual one serve as foils of one another, and help add depth to this examination of people struggling to gain control of their lives, and the hurdles then encounter in their seemingly futile struggle.

With the evaluTEC project, I address the shared experiences of evaluation and success. Through the use of live interactions and the evaluTEC.com website, I examine how we quantify, measure, and compare ourselves. The project brings to focus an absurd and dehumanizing quality, which arises when applying an objective evaluation to the subjective idea of human success.

The idea of human success is one riddled with subconscious fears and insecurity, in part due to its subjective and unquantifiable nature. Because most humans have had the experience of striving for an intangible sense of success, and suffered being evaluated along the way, an empathy can easily be generated by sharing the these experiences with others. By cultivating this empathy, a sense of connection and community is instantly created. Within a continuously more isolated world, these moments of connection are valuable in altering mindsets and cultivating critical thought.

Janet Wright planting sign

Waiting for passersby

An evaluTEC business card?

Commercials for The System

Recently, I have focused on humans relating to each other through the shared experience of passing time. Noticeably, some individuals have a distinct struggle with the passage of time. Their struggle seems to stem from a resistance to change, and a grasping for control. These are two very human qualities to which most viewers can relate.

The narrative for this work follows a character named Valerie Hartman, who has developed The System, a new image-based approach to time traveling. Through public appearances and infomercials, Ms. Hartman is spreading the word about this new tool for controlling one’s life.

Video of commercials for The System are available at:
www.vimeo.com/3460635

Music Credits:
(Eternal Hope, Reign, and Revival) Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)