Recovery Mode explores the intersection of inward compulsion and outward expectation to continuously produce and perform. Expanding on Meakins’ ongoing examination of exertion, exhaustion, and the amplification of the human body, the work investigates physicality in the context of restless pursuit — where achievements quickly dissolve, replaced by the desire for more.
This exhibition brings together Meakins’ full breadth of practice — spanning sculpture, 3D modelling, VR-based drawing, animation, and 3D printing — to present a cohesive reflection on the body as both vessel and machine, driven by the demand to continually outdo itself. The work uses the everyday setting to explore tricks, false perceptions, and out-of-body experiences in relation to how the body absorbs, adapts, and recovers, while interrogating the effects of constant motion and endless productivity. Physical layering, pressure points, and recurring symbols are embedded, bolted, etched and fabricated into the work — introducing a tangible sense of weight, load, and support. Nothing is used once; every material is stretched, reconsidered, and repurposed, translating the cyclic nature of our ambition into physical form.
The exhibition positions the body as a system expected to keep going even when exhausted — fleetingly satisfied, always seeking, stretching until something gives way. On to the next one.