The early-Anthropocene gilded cage

mid-21st century

England

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This early-Anthropocene exhibit is Lenovo, an entertainment device, which reveals evidence of the adaptations that took place at the Age of Affluence/Broken World boundary. It is a highly specialised manufactured object that shows the ancient’s sophistication in the manipulation of the earth's materials. The plastic core of the object is engineered from extracted substances of Carboniferous fossilised organic beds. This material was ubiquitous at that time, but was largely eradicated during the global economic meltdown, rapid population decline, and pulses of devastating plagues that ushered in the Broken World. 

The surface of the object had been adapted in antiquity, with the application of a gold coating. Increasingly, during the waves of pandemics, metal surfaces were thought to protect humans from infection. This certainly appears true of copper coated surfaces that are still in use today, but the use of gold is likely to relate to status and wealth display. Unfortunately, this reduced protection of the affluent elite who were disproportionately affected by the storms of plague. The unsuccessful segregation of these individuals in an attempt to isolate themselves from infection, became known as ‘Gilded Cages’ .

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