Experiencing Interruptions?

(dis)content

In (dis)content Meg employs her artistic direction, writing and production design in a series of performed ‘living pictures’. In this short 5 minute film Meg brings to life, with dramatic staging, the emotional experiences that happen behind the addictive blue glow of our smart phones. Meg draws on the 10 years she's spent exploring how social media can impact on ourselves. This work is about how it feels to be human in the digital landscape we all now find ourselves within.

  • Meg Mosley
    Artistic Director, Writer, Producer, Performer
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    social commentary, live art, performance art
  • Runtime:
    6 minutes 36 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 21, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    15,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital Super 35
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • The Old Town Hall, Trowbridge - a premiere of (dis)content film & exhibition by Meg Mosley
    Trowbridge, Wiltshire
    United Kingdom
    October 22, 2022
  • Sotheby's London, 'Humanity' the Outside In National Exhibition
    London
    United Kingdom
    January 9, 2023
    Official Selection
Director Biography

Meg Mosley is an award winning visual artist and first time filmmaker. She is best known for her work investigating how belonging and identity production have adapted to the universal and cultural dominance of social media and the internet. She works across art forms including video, performance and photography.

In 2004, Meg won a full scholarship from the Arts and Humanities Council to study for a Masters degree at The Slade School of Art focusing on the concept of ‘Belonging’. Her breakthrough work was Megastar in 2012 created to coincide with the rise of social media and the selfie. In 2019 Meg was chosen to feature in a BBC ‘short’ about how dating apps are affecting our mental health.

Meg then deleted all her social media platforms and received a research and development grant from the Arts Council England to investigate the darker side of social media. In 2022 Meg premiered her first short film, (dis)content. In this film Meg brings to life, with dramatic staging and visual allegory, the emotional experiences that happen behind the addictive blue glow of our smart phones. It is a semi-autobiographical artwork that draws on her own experience and the stories she has gathered from young women.

Meg was supported by The Arts Council of England receiving a ‘Developing Your Creative Practice’ grant for research and development 2019-2021 and her film (dis)content was then funded in full by an Arts Council of England National Lottery Project Grant.

(dis)content is Meg's directorial debut into short film making.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

(dis)content is a true passion piece, I drew on the 10 years I've spent exploring how social media can impact on ourselves. I wanted to use every ounce of my artistic direction, writing and production design in a short film comprising of a series of performed ‘living pictures’. I was driven to bring to life, with dramatic staging, the emotional experiences that happen behind the addictive blue glow of our smart phones. In the early 19th century ‘living pictures’ were a genre chosen by women in the suffragette movement as a form of protest for their dramatic emphasis on staging, pose, makeup, lighting & facial expression. Using the same agency, I perform like a GIF using powerful social media allegory to etch a lasting impression in the minds of audiences.

On turning 40 I felt it was important to make this work now as I belongs to the last generation with an analogue childhood. Those behind me never experienced the creation of identity without social media. I hope my voice bridges both generations to tell my story, to tell our story.