Filmed in the episodic style of a sci-fi miniseries, THE COMMON SENSE revolves around the Patch, a “neurological entertainment device” that allows people to feel one another’s embodied experience, physical sensations, and emotions. When the Patch’s network suddenly breaks down and has to be rebooted, the world is changed, splitting into two parallel realities: one where wide-scale political disruptions have broken out; the other where life continues as it was before.

The Common Sense | Great Britain 2014 (cinema version, 2017). Dir: Melanie Gilligan. 90 min. DCP

Melanie Gilligan is a Canadian artist based in London and New York who uses speculative and dystopian narratives to explore contemporary issues. An installation of The Common Sense is included in the exhibition To Refuse/To Wait/To Sleep at the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, UBC, January 13 - April 9.

Image: Copyright Melanie Gilligan. Courtesy of the artist and Max Mayer Gallery, Düsseldorf.