This is Future Archeology

The Trailer

Directed and produced by Paula Zuccotti
Camera: Tom Underwood, Josh Wasserman, Paula Zuccotti
Editors: Tom Underwood, Josh Wasserman, Paula Zuccotti
Writer: Paula Zuccotti
Executive producer: TheOverworld Ltd 2019
Photography: Paula Zuccotti
Film poster, logo and typography: Jake Noakes

The Story

Future Archeology is Paula Zuccotti’s first documentary feature film based on her book “Every Thing We Touch”. Can our objects tell the story of our lives? The film challenges us to imagine how future generations would make sense of our physical footprint from the objects we touch.

For this, Zuccotti embarked on a quest to create a time capsule of our lives by photographing in a single-shot all the objects that people come in contact with over a 24 hour period.

From a cowboy in Arizona to a nun in Madrid, from a one month old baby in London to a 71 years old puppeteer in Shanghai, she travelled the world exploring our interaction with everyday objects, treating them as clues that reveal insights into how we live our daily lives. As an industrial designer, ethnographer, trend forecaster and artist, Zuccotti’s story blends the fields of design, society, technology, anthropology and art. Camera in hand, her film is a visual feast of objects, people and culture unveiling her learnings and the experiences of those who participated.

About Paula

^{Ethnographer, trend forecaster, creative strategist, author.

Paula Zuccotti is a leading expert in global consumption and a respected authority in consumer behaviour and product interaction – past, present and future. Founder of research and creative consultancy agency TheOverworld Paula has over 15 years of experience travelling the world researching people’s everyday lives and uncovering insights envisioning products, brands and services for the likes of Google Creative Lab, Nike, Starbucks, McKinsey and R/GA.

In 2015 Paula launched her first book "Every Thing We Touch: A 24hours Inventory of our lives" Published by Penguin Random House (English and Mandarin). The book is an artistic portrayal of the daily physical footprint of over 60 unique individuals from around the world. Everything We Touch entered the public consciousness, leading to photography and visual storytelling awards and art gallery exhibitions worldwide from Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art to Murcia Art Fair, and creating art installations for both Jerusalem and Dubai Design Week.

Paula gained a BA Hons in Industrial Design from the University of Buenos Aires and an MA in Strategy & Innovation from Brunel University.

She regularly delivers inspiring and thought-provoking keynote speeches at both corporate and academic events around the world and is invited to teach, mentor and jury at universities and international festivals, having also developed educational programmes for the V&A She is Argentine-Italian, and has lived in London for the past 18 years.}

photo credit: Becky Beamer

Every Thing We Touch

Every Thing We Touch: A 24-Hour Inventory of Our Lives
Paperback, 12 Nov 2015. Published by Viking - Penguin Random House

My book is about Future Archeology, you can follow the bigger story, impact and media coverage on its tumblr page.

What's the first thing we touch when we wake up?
How do our favourite things reveal our hopes and fears?
Can objects tell the story of our lives?

Imagine how your day would look if you recorded everything that you touched.

From smartphone to soap, from spice to spoon... what if they were all brought together in one place? Would they tell a bigger story?

Driven by this idea, I travelled around the world to find people from an incredible array of ages, cultures, professions and backgrounds. I asked them to document every object they touched in 24 hours. Then she gathered those objects together and photographed them in a single shot.

From a toddler in Tokyo to a cowboy in Arizona, from a cleaner in London to a cloister nun in Madrid, Every Thing We Touch is their story told through the objects they own, consume, need, choose, treasure and can't let go.

Each image is mystery, a story, a work of art. Each is a moment in time: a life and a world reflected back at us.

"A fascinating glimpse into our daily lives"
(Wired)

Beautiful and enlightening. Shows how simply and unexpectedly a series of objects can tell extraordinary stories about our existence. Stunning - a collection to get lost in."
(Wallpapper*)

"Zuccotti formats the photos so that the objects are arranged in chronological order and a complete picture can be formed of an individual’s daily life [..] where assumptions can be made about who that person is — his or her gender, nationality, or line of work."
(The Huffington Post)

"The premise is simple and the results are really quite beautiful"
(Grazia)

A film by Paula Zuccotti

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