Kingston University
by InĂŞs Mendes
MA Fashion - Kingston University
Fashion Level 7 2013/14 Fashion Context 1
BY InĂŞs Mendes K1347992 Most of the imagery used in this portfolio was fully created by me However exception to this is the art of John Holmes, presented in page XX, Also some of the pictures used in the illustration collages I made were not mine originally.
EX:POSE takes place in a world where people are online everyday on various social-media. A place where the notion of self gets distorted in the digital Technicolor noise.
“EX:POSE � is a multidisciplinary project based as much in sociology and psychology as in modern technology and design.
A social experiment designed for Facebook - the colossal, wide spread social media is in a brand new place for social research. Never in human history did we have anything of the kind. In an era where our understanding of life has adapted to include our online existence, these virtual structures allow us to further test human behavior by giving us tools and possibilities unavailable before. Virtual reality has not only expanded our personal spaces and possibilities but also infinitely pushed the boundaries of knowledge: both by enlarging the field of research and by giving us new tools and possibilities.
Social media has transported social interaction to a virtual context. It brings individuals together based on the same premise as internet in general - it shortens the distances .
ujd
The trump card of Facebook in particular is to bring together several different elements in a single platform. There is the “forum” aspect with the concept of “wall” and “newsfeed”, transversal to other social media, but there it introduces the possibility to create pages, groups or communities which share the same ethos and interests. Beyond these group components there is also a private communicational factor to take into consideration, with the private messaging system, also known as chat, which proved to be a severe blow to several of the many of the most popular existing chat rooms, such as msn messenger, Yahoo or ICQ. Facebook has created the opportunity to freely associate with other individuals in an environment of liberal communication, encompassing the public or private sharing of ideas, thoughts, creations either personal or external.
g
c
s q
There are two essentials to human social behavior: the need to show ourselves to others and the need to observe them.Both stage stars and spectators That is the duality between the self and the other: The wish to belong as well as to be unique. But to define our very own uniqueness, we must crash our existence with that of others ultimately we can only exist through everyone else.
Based on this concept EX:POSE was born. The concept is simple - deny people one of their intrinsic principles and see which one they choose.
Facebook is a social setting that sensually mixes voyeurism and exhibitionism. As Goffman mentions in his seminal work “The presentation of the Self in Everyday Life”, our social existence is always a drama performance, where the self is projected in a character, created in the moment of interaction, and which may not correspond with the personal self – the “I”. In the virtual context it is natural that this is even more noticeable, almost limitless.
What EX:POSE proposes is to extreme this and force individuals into two drama poles, either “performers” or “shadow audience” “entertainers” or “voyeurs”. For both the experience consists of an interaction impossible to separate from our social needs - both “voyeurs” and “entertainers” are searching, in opposite dimensions, for interpersonal contact even if this turns out to bitterly one-sided: “Voyeur” users can only watch and “entertainers” can only be watched but both are aware of each other’s roles creating a dual dynamics in a an interaction that is two times virtual.
,
?
, ,,
Closer in its essence to a social study with strong design elements,this project was conceived based on, and to be used alongside, one of the major social networking sites of today -Facebook. Imagined as a one-day event EX:POSED consists on having Facebook do a social experiment under a “gameâ€? façade. Similar to the social networking experience in which it is based, such a project only makes sense if approached in a collective way by several, profusely different subjects, extending and guaranteeing that every side is properly explored, it is a experiment for masses.
“Life
is
a great big beautiful three-ring circus.
There are those on the floor making their lives among the heads of lions and hoops of fire, and those in the stands, complacent and wowed, their mouths stuffed with popcorn.�
Christopher - Hawke, Unnatural Truth
Will you be the stars or the spy?
How does it work? Once one tries to access their facebook page, they will find once more the login menu. But on this special day there are two options to access facebook You must choose to “log in as an entertainer” or “log in as a voyeur”. This dillemma presented braces you with two very different sets of rules. In its essence, an entertainer would have an active role while a voyeur would choose to be a passive character.
If you log in as an entertainer you can post freely, but you can only see what other people logged in as entertainers have posted. You are also able to comment and like these at will. However all your activity has a lifespan, it lasts for a limited period of time. The more activity a post generates the longer it will last. To use the website terminology, each like and comment adds time to the countdown. This way, much like in “real life”, the more popular your remarks are, the longer they are remembered. After all you must earn the spotlight.
Another feature of the entertainer account is that a full account of every article and page an entertainer visits in or through facebook will be available in their wall for everyone logged in. A drawback to the entertainer option is that there is a time limit to how long one can stay logged in without any activity. This means that if an “entertainer” does not post, like or comment for too long he will be automatically logged off. Once logged off you can log in again, however the time limit will be half of what it was before. Once any activity takes place it will reset the countdown to its full original time limit. Any posts or comments made on this day cannot be deleted manually by the writer or by the thread creator. Once a comment or post is online the only way for it to disappear is to surpass its lifespan. The ultimate nuisance of an “entertainer” account is that the user will be unable to access the private chat or check who is online. He will only have access to other entertainers through their public activity.
For a user logged as a “voyeur” the rules are entirely opposed. Firstly you are unable to post, comment or like any content. All the public activity going on Facebook during this day is the doing of entertainers. However you have full access to everything posted or visited by the “entertainers”, even the content no longer available to them. For a “voyeur” user, no activity will disappear due to lack of popularity. The greatest advantage of a “voyeur” account is that the private chat is fully accessible. “Voyeur” users may chat with each other without any kind of limitations. However since privacy is one of the pillars of the “voyeur” account no one will show up as online on the chat list. This means that a “voyeur” who wants to chat with another will have to start the chat with a person seemingly offline -this, however poses a question: is the adressee a fellow “voyeur” or simply someone who has yet to login on Facebook that day? If the latter occurs,when that person logs in it may go one of two ways: should they choose to log in as “voyeur” they will receive the message once they are online without any further consequence. If, however, they choose to log in as an “entertainer”, not only will they not receive the message (for the chat facility is unavailable to them) but it will also mean the temporary loss of the ability to use the private chat with anyone. ne.
You can post and shine.
Entertainer Users
Also for the day you cannot delete any comments - not the ones you've made nor those someone has made on your thread. Once the words are out there that bridge is burnt! And you know what they say... If you are gonna burn something you might as well blast it!
Schroendiger’s comment has vanished already since no one like it.
You can view what other entertainers posts and comment or as you wish. However in showbiz world what you say will vanish unless you go insanely popular! Entertain people way, each comment or like you get will increase the life of your activity. When that life span comes to an end... post/comment will simply vanish as will popular memory.
like soon your span your
Not all are perks in this life though and so you cannot see anyone who's not a star like yourself. You can only interact with the ones in the light. Shadows move around on the backstage and the audience is in pitch dark, there are people staring in there but you can only put up a show for them, not interact personally.
Who would care about the background anyway? Maybe it is a perk after all, you get to enlighten human race with your remarks without having to put up with half the nonsense you usually do.
Final detail: Playing it low will be the death of you in this world, this way there is a time limit on how long you get to stay online without any activity. But then again what business could a star have in the shadows?
Shakespeare said the world's a stage. Now definitely not a perk is that all the pages you visit will show up in your timeline. We know, we know, intrusive and right to privacy and all That... but that's fame. The spotlights Are on! Be whatever character you want to be. vBe certain that the world is staring make sure to make it worth its vwhile.
Make sure the lights stay on you and make it worthy their while!
Keeping an eye on everything and your hands clean is your way to deal with things. Therefore you can see what the stars go around doing. All of it: from every single page they visit within Facebook to their social activity even after it vanishes for the people logged in as entertainers .
However being a shadow has its price. You cannot either post, comment or like any content. You are totally invisible for everyone else. An outsider peeking from wherever the shadows are slightly darker than they should be.
Voyeur Users
"There is no such pleasure as that of sitting inside a parked car, concealed only by the unlikelihood of such a chance and watch people go by in their lives, caught in a moment as static as in camera." - Gloria Steinem
Even though you can use the chat worry not!
On the other hand while entertainers have absolutely no chance for privacy you get the chance to whisper at others of your kind in a private chat.
As it should happen with spies, your privacy is absolute and no spy will appear online. Therefore in order to engage in private messaging you will have to take a leap of faith and message whoever you want to talk to. However be careful is that person a spy or just a "future entertainer" who hasn't logged in yet? If you are to message an entertainer-to-be you will temporarily loose your abilities to chat with other spies once that entertainer user logs in. You know just until you can get all those light beams away from you.
“The World is a Stage and the play is badly cast” Oscar Wilde
“Observing Someone unaware while remaining unseen gives our own cells the consistency of secrete and our thoughts the ilusion of intimacy” Agnés Wallace
EX:POSE is a multidisciplinary project built around a social experiment. Organic and unpredictable in its focus, it is largely dependent on the general audience, demanding their participation to exist and function. Taking this into consideration, besides the fact that the core of the project is the online social space, the most logical way to disclose its full content was through a website. This works both as an online portfolio as well as a platform to get further feedback on the project.
SURVEY 2#
Surveys and Detail Elaboration
hiocvujdg
During the development of this project three rounds of surveys were applied. These were mainly administered online, however there was a printed version of the first one due to its more broad nature would suit individuals who were not as comfortable with the online version. The next two, being more thorough and requiring a relative understanding of social networks, we found it unnecessary to reproduce them on a physical format.
The second survey was administered after a thorough analysis of the flaws found on the role definitions, previously pointed out by the results of the first survey. I focused on the rule structure of the “voyeur” and “entertainer” option. It asked for the individual to first identify as one of the option, and then answer accordingly to the possibilities which he saw as fitting to the role taken. It also inquired on the individuals perception of the technical aspect and display of the project. Of the 37 respondents (the entirety of which was in the 20-30 age group, with 60% females) 57% chose the “Entertainer” option. It allowed the confirming that the rule structure had been balanced, and provided a deep understanding of the public motifs. These were in turn analysed by multiple correspondence data displays, and we found that the main symbollic themes displayed were: minimalism; blue; binoculars.
SURVEY 1# The first survey was concerned with the conceptual aspect of the project, and focused on understanding the individuals relation to the social environment. It was directed primarily to the inquired’s relation to internet communities in general and facebook in particular. It also questioned the individuals reaction on the possibility of multiple facets of facebook use. Of the 63 respondents (91% on the 20-30 age group, and 55% males), we found that 76% picked “Voyeur”, indicating that the rules had to be rethought, so as to balance the possibilities of each option. In the insights provided by the respondents, several questions and nuances were raised.
SURVEY 3#
s q
The last survey was done in an exploratory fashion, with the focus of understanding the possibilities for improvement on some key-aspects of the project. It contained several open answered questions and options, and fomented a strong feedback component by part of the respondents. Of the 18 respondents to date, numerous suggestions have been made, some of which have led to the current state of the project, and some which shall be implemented on later stages.
A single T-shirt has been developed for this project so far. Representing both Voyeurs and Entertainers, the use of binoculars and naked chest creates the perfect product to summarize the EX:POSE Project concept.
EX:POSE was designed to be a one day event - for from my research I believe that given that Facebook is such a prominent platform, enough data would be gathered for a long and proliferal analyzes during 24 hours. Also given the outspread popularity and how strongly dependent on it a vast part of the population has become it does not seem neither wise nor profitable to extend this abnormal situation.
However, despite the main contact with the widespread population being brief the aftermath is way more lasting. On a medium term, slightly longer than event itself is the marketing merchandise chances. Lasting a much longer period there would be the analisis and investigation of the data collected, providing brand new groundwork sustenance for many possible developments.