Departure Ep. 2: Frontiers - ASMR Sci-Fi Series
This video initially interested me as I was reading about the psychological phenomena of ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) and I liked the combination of intimacy and technology: provoking a human feeling through a faceless platform, creating the feeling of something personal but directing it at millions of people.
This woman created multiple identities, each personifying a particular 'type', and then turned them into robots based solely on this 'type'. Throughout the video she keeps a consistent level of volume, staying extremely quiet and close to the microphone.
Things to take from this:
- the idea of creating artificial personalities for each 'type' of person, and embodying that in some way
- the combination of something personal and mechanical, confusing the boundaries between them
- the creation of a dystopian future world that doesn't seem too far away from ours
Lucy Hardcastle - Intangible Matter
Lucy Hardcastle created an online dimension with a futuristic, celestial aesthetic for the viewer to move their way through and complete tasks, like in a video game.
- the immersive, interactive nature of the project
- the aesthetic - futuristic, smooth, soft light, soothing
Bjork Digital exhibition at Somerset House
Last year I visited Bjork's exhibition at Somerset House, where it consisted mostly of virtual realities experienced through VR goggles. The uniqueness and intimacy of this show struck me, and I knew I'd like to somehow explore technology from a fine art approach. You come out of the show feeling like you have spent time with the artist, and that no two experiences were the same.
Things to take from this:
- figure out a way to focus on closeness and immersion within my project
- question how to create a sense of personality through an electronic based piece of work
- experiment with making work that relies on the viewer's participation
Ex Machina - Dir. Alex Garland, 2015
This film explores our relationship with artificial intelligence in the most extreme sense - embodying all of the paranoia around our rapidly developing internet world and asking 'What happens when our technology surpasses us?'
Things to take from this:
- smooth, futuristic aesthetic and colour scheme
- make the audience think about and question the morality of the increasingly progressive steps humans are taking with computers
Calypso's photographs convey a feeling of unease, as she personifies these slightly dystopian ideals and creates a persona that is removed from herself, but still holds heavy connotations around what is expected of the female form and females in general. She plays on classic stereotypes to morph into an anti-stereotype, pushing the expectations over the edge.
Things to take from this:
- in an observation on human behaviour, feminism is unavoidable - I am a female that is present in society so therefore this is how I view the world. My work usually holds feminist undertones, and it would be interesting to see how these would present themselves in this project.
Amalia Ulman - Excellences and Perfections
At the One & Other show at the Zabludovicz, Ulman presented a video explaining her 4 months long performance piece titled Excellences and Perfections, where she lived online as an alter ego - one that spent nights in luxury hotels, ate lavish brunches and even got breast surgery to fit the Instagram 'Hot Babe' image, as artist Hannah Black describes it. This is the second example (Calypso being the first) of creating something by giving people what they want, but in an extreme and distorted way. It's a way of putting forth the question 'Is this what you really want?' and giving a physical description of that. In retrospect, Ulman's work would have tied in harmoniously with my project #harrystylespleasenoticeme - we both share similar ideas of shining a light on the issues with social media by becoming a part of the problem, and living as an alter ego in the internet space we are examining. Making comments on the lives we lead but living them at the same time.
Things to take from this:
- continue to explore alter-egos and personalities as embodiments of stereotypes
- how I can involve myself completely in this project, making it a part of my life and living it instead of working on it occasionally
Tyler Coburn - I'm That Angel
Following a lecture I attended by Tyler Coburn, I started to look at performance art in a different light, one that was a marriage of the political and poetic. Where I've been looking at social media in a more satirically kitschy way, Coburn dissects it in a more mechanical way, with complex trains of thought and clean cut shots.
Things to take from this:
- look more into the context of the internet - where it started, how it has changed our lives ~ (continue watching Lo & Behold, Reveries of the Connected World by Werner Herzog) ~ and apply that to my research and work
Upcoming exhibitions I am visiting:
- Indigo Zoom - a film screening of Ayesha Tan-Jones' depiction of our dystopian future
- Robots - The Science Museum
No comments:
Post a Comment