Lara Chapman

Lara Chapman is a London-based (Sydney bred) writer, design researcher and curator. Her work explores the hidden narratives, patterns and politics that operate in everyday objects. She is particularly interested in the tensions, parallels and collusions between the digital and physical worlds. Her writing has been published by Disegno, TL magazine and The Design Writer and she has exhibited her projects at the V&A, Dutch Design Week and the Stanley Picker Gallery. Lara holds an MA in Design Curating and Writing from Design Academy Eindhoven (2019) and a BA in Product and Furniture Design from Kingston University (2017).

When devices go bump in the night

screensaver watching you

By Lara Chapman — 17 July, 2020

A digital yellow fish swims slowly across my laptop screen, and some coded bubbles rise from the slightly pixelated coral in the bottom corners. This retro screensaver-style homepage is my first encounter with the online exhibition screensaver watching you, hosted by Off Site Project (April 16 – July 19, 2020).  I begin reading the curatorial…

Net Art Roulette:

On Press Refresh

By Lara Chapman — 9 April, 2020

➪ I press refresh A video starts buffering on my screen. A blurry beige shape comes into focus, revealing the upper thighs of a woman. She is wearing a pair of saggy nude coloured underpants. At the top of her legs, a pair of superimposed eyebrows rise and fall, rise and fall. I chuckle. It’s…