Safety Net investigates connections between the current housing crisis and the digital media economy, which increasingly emphasises streaming and renting over ownership. I appropriate imagery and building materials from the video game, Minecraft. I transform artefacts from these digital environments into something tangible and physical, through printmaking. With the ongoing rise in renting costs, affordable homes are a distant memory. Artificial digital landscapes, such as those found in Minecraft, allow young people to create imaginative future homes that may never exist. The name Safety Net comes from the promise of guaranteed security through government schemes that continue to fail those who struggle with access to housing. I use the medium of screenprint for its labour-intensive nature which mirrors Minecraft’s building mechanics. The prints from this collection are consistently 20 to 36 layers of ink, hand-printed in a slow and laborious manner. Printing is accessible in domestic settings and allows me to take back ownership in a time of streaming and renting.
