The Fifth Generation

From QAnon to The Great Replacement, conspiracy theories have today entered the mainstream. Their prevalence is a symbol of our so-called “post-truth society”, characterised by a lack of agreement over the nature of truth. Known to thrive in times of uncertainty, throughout history conspiracy theories have been connected to extremism, witch hunts, and genocide and have contributed to the rejection of mainstream medicine and scientific consensus, most notably around climate change.

“The Fifth Generation” looks into modern-day conspiracy theories linking 5G technology with the coronavirus pandemic. Seen by over 50 percent of British adults, conspiracies around 5G have spread across the world, from North and Latin America to parts of Europe and Africa, and resulted in at least 100 phone masts being attacked across Europe. Over the last two years, these anti-5G conspiracies have acted as a gateway for people to fall further into conspiracy theory rabbit holes, fuelled by social media, and are an extreme symbol of what happens when fact, fiction and fantasy become blurred.

Mirroring the rehash culture of conspiracy theories and the internet more broadly, the work employs montage and appropriation, combining found footage from the web, social media text exchanges and official reports with my own photography to interweave various perspectives – both true and untrue. Through this fictionalised documentary approach, “The Fifth Generation” captures an imagined future, shedding light on the shifting boundaries between fact and fiction in an increasingly image- and information-saturated world.