Visuals
Project Statement
In this project, my partner and I wrote a new narrative for the game of Chess that focused on Capitalism and its current battle with the Natural World. On my side of the board, we see a company by the name of ForNature that destroys resources for the purpose of manufacturing and boosting consumption in America (The King). Besides ForNature stands our Government which protects this company with all its might and is a vicious and deadly foe (The Queen). Supporting the Government and ForNature are the banks, seeking protection from the Government and preying upon us like vultures (The Bishop). Standing beside them are two landlords. Landlords are a microcosm of capitalism: taking up much-needed resources such as housing and profiting off of our need for it (The Knight). Standing at the edges of the board are two lawyers who are deadset on protecting the Government and ForNature’s actions with the law, attempting to make them both untouchable. Beneath everyone are the lowly consumers, bags in their hands from a company that can’t stop producing and whom we can’t stop buying from (The Pawns). In the context of the project, Capitalism’s battle with the Natural World, fighting over resources and land, is meant to be a modern and more relevant narrative fit for the game of chess. The reality we live in is what I planned to reflect upon with these chess pieces. The battle is between a violent foe and one who just wishes to survive. Whereas chess’ original narrative kept each player on equal footing being that they were both kingdoms with the same pawns and everything, our board aims to make a statement about the world we live in.
Process
You can view a detailed project process at Checkmate: Process