Pandemic Subversions: The Rise of the Cybermen

This article reflects on recent developments in the author's fine art research project, Monsters and Margins. The imposing of lockdown restrictions in 2020 initiated a shift in the artist’s practice, resulting in him spray painting and projecting Doctor Who villains onto the Brutalist architecture of the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge. The author will demonstrate the influence of literature and philosophy on his artistic practice, drawing upon the work of Robert Smithson, J.G. Ballard, Iain Sinclair and, most pertinently, Mark Fisher, as he narrates the evolution of his understanding of hauntology and psycho-geography through progressing experiments. This leads to the unearthing of an anti-capitalist political stance in the work, enflamed by the pandemic’s highlighting of poor governance and society’s unsustainable consumerism and inequalities.