"Demo Tape"

This piece, which inspired the title of the entire collection, evokes the concept of songs or tracks on an album. Much like music, art has the power to bypass our cognitive filter and speak directly to the heart. I found this cassette tape while sorting through old boxes of forgotten items. Its retro aesthetic caught my eye, and it seemed a fitting symbol of the era I grew up in. As a “Xennial”—born between 1977 and 1985—I experienced a childhood steeped in analogue and an adulthood shaped by digital innovation. The spirit of analogue is a foundational theme of my practice. Looking back, the wisdom of our boomer parents was no longer enough to make sense of the world amidst the pace of exponential change. We, the Xennials, had to navigate this rapidly shifting landscape on our own.

Music played a major role in shaping my worldview, especially the countercultural and independent scenes of the time. It was a period of resistance against the homogenous mass media that dominated the cultural landscape. It was also a time of profound disillusionment, as I watched ideals that once held deep meaning get co-opted into consumerism, turning culture and identity into products people could easily purchase, with little real effort or authenticity involved.

The cassette tape was the primary medium for purchasing music before it was eclipsed by the digital compact disc in the ‘90s. It was also when I first discovered the joy of portable music with cassette players and boom boxes, taking my tunes with me wherever I went. Many of the tapes I found were mixtapes, often compiled from the radio, with moments of spontaneity where I’d hit "record" when a favourite song played. These mixtapes became personal gifts to friends or even tokens of affection for a crush, a way to share not just music, but a piece of one’s soul.