Detecting · Selecting · Ejecting - The corporate world exposed.
Elexiri began as a quiet little idea in the background while I was writing Soylent Red. It wasn’t meant to become anything on its own, but it kept insisting. At first it was just a wordplay - and I hope the mix of references is obvious enough. But after a while I realised it could also be a small lens for noticing what digital tools do to us, how they bind us, and how they have become leeches that quietly drain the blood from our existence.
These tools are developed and controlled by large and rather anonymous tech companies whose real interest is simple: exploit us. They pretend we are “customers,” when in reality we feed their systems with our lives. And yes, Elexiri is a kind of blend between The Matrix, The Lord of the Rings (Sauron), and 2001: A Space Odyssey, mixed with the political habit of outsourcing sensitive or questionable tasks to private companies, which makes it possible for those in political power to claim innocence while someone else is doing their dirty work.
The tagline grew out of this: detecting, selecting, ejecting. It reflects the political use of data and the surveillance of ordinary life - how we, as citizens, are sorted into categories and assigned different values. Those judged not to “contribute” (according to whatever the system currently finds important) are detected, selected, and eventually ejected. It exposes a deeply cynical idea shared by both political and corporate systems. And one can’t help wondering, now and then: who serves the people - all people?
Whether Elexiri becomes something larger or remains a small concept sitting quietly in a corner of this website, I don’t know. For now, it is here, and that is enough.