Alice Poole
A Life of No System, In a Time of Restriction When coronavirus hit the UK, I don’t think anybody anticipated the indefinite isolation that awaited us, the human connection that within one announcement was gone. The words ‘stay at home’ were present in every household and echoed as we applauded for the NHS. The clanging of saucepans and the clapping of hands brought communities to tears and through months of uncertainty, it was this rhythm that united us. Throughout the 1990s, Vinca Petersen documented her life on the road. At the age of 16, she uprooted her life and began travelling amongst the rave scene in the 90s. Her unique and captivating diaristic styled body of work No System (1999), became a visual diary as she documented the ups and downs of life on the road; preserving memories that often became hazy. Petersen effortlessly captured the freedom of youth and tidal waves of civil disobedience, born out of the anger felt amongst young people as raves became part of a continued game of cat and mouse with authorities. This inevitably led to the The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act of 1994 and for many, the days of dancing all night were over—for now at least. In the present day, in a world struck with a virus
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we cannot control, economic collapse and social unrest have been two issues that became all too real in 2020. Youth unemployment is the highest it’s been in three years, with the amount of young people seeking employment benefit risen by 271,000 in just under a year. The civil unrest surrounding the Black Lives Matter Movement following the murder of George Floyd in May 2020 sent waves of political and social upheaval across the globe, protests from the 1960s Civil Rights Movement echoed in those of 2020. In the hope that we will soon return to a level
‘No System’ (1999) Vinca Petersen, courtesy of Vinca Petersen Archive
