‘On Pugin' parts i, ii & iii (2021) is a triptych NFT installation created in collaboration between composer Orri McBrearty and artist Mark Duffy. The work builds on Duffy’s 2019 series of the same name that surveyed the dirt and ephemera on the floor of the House of Commons, made while he worked there as official photographer. The series is named after Augustus Pugin, the architect driven mad by his design of the Houses of Parliament. Pugin’s patterns are still replicated in the furnishings. Linking Pugin with contemporary politics suggests Parliament’s emphatic commitment to preserving ‘fraying’ political heritage is impeding democratic progress.

The erratic pacing of the infinitely looping artwork makes it difficult for the viewer to study any one image for any length. It seeks to replicate the artist’s tense, fruitless search for answers on the floors of power.

The sound design from parts i, ii & iii combine to make one 3D soundscape that is best experienced with headphones.