THE WORLD WIDE WEB.com Nowadays, the true reach of the Internet is hard to measure. It is a world that has been integrated into our daily lives; everything surrounding it, including your daily routines, to a piece of artwork, is mediated by it. The Internet extends beyond digital screens; it permits a symbiotic relationship between humans and technology and popularizes technologyprocessed art forms such as New Media Art that is ever expanding on TUMBLR (Turner, 2012). At the end of Unit 1 I identified two key design concepts that reflect the impact of the Internet and I am going to investigate how these are applied within my practice. They are, one, post-humanization, and two, the hyperreality that is shaped by the possibilities of the Internet. The work I produced in Unit 2 Design Proposition seeks to create a narrative, using these concepts, which ultimately portrays a social condition. The work is a celebration of our capitalist system and the technology it has produced that has altered the way art is made and looks. I am attempting to use the work as a reflection of how culture is shaped by the Internet rather than an attempt to change the culture.
IDENTITY CRISIS.PNG
HYPERREALISM
A social condition
Before realizing it, the Internet has become something very ‘real’ and more meaningful than the life we perceive, from the photos we post online to a status update; if we do not update or post, did the events even happen at all? We live in the world submerged in filtered ‘selfies’, HD advertising photos and numerous tweets; we encounter endless representations and reproductions in everyday lives. Hence, I am interested to explore the idea that human beings are driven by information technology and how this can open a new territory for artistic practices.
Jean Baudrillard published his essay on ‘Hyper-realism of Simulation’ in 1976, in which he stated the culture we live in is bombarded by signs and symbols created by mass media; thus, truth or reality is vanished away in a media-saturated contemporary world (Baudrillard, 2002). This results in the inability to distinguish the real from simulation; simulation precedes the real to create its own meaning; this condition is known as a hyperreality. The Internet simulates and manifests to produce its own language and experiences; online news sources, Emojis, Google search, Yahoo Answers, Tinders etcetera, have molded the way we interact with life events.
HYPER-REAL
UN-ORIGIN
UNOR
‘Unoriginal genius’
is a term coined by Marjorie Perloff; her same title book was published to discuss the condition of writing poems in the digital age. She explores the development of writing and re-contextualizes the meaning of ‘genius’ through dissecting poems of various authors in a hyper-information world. By repurposing other people’s work, through the use of citing, framing, recycling existing content, people manage to create their own work in a more complex and personal manner (Perloff, 2010).
MAN VS MOON
NAL
‘MARBLE CAKE’ an editorial photo for I-D mag found online
RIGINAL UNORIGINAL UNORIGINAL UNORIGINAL
^ ^
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< I purposefully manipulate the image to make it evoke the opposite feeling. The reproduced image focuses on the struggle of man with nature; while the other creates a harmonious connection between the model and the background. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
GENIUS US
GENIUS I GENIUS GEN GENIUS My method of creating and generating ideas is similar. I go online, scroll through ubiquitous amount of websites and social media channels, turn off the Internet, and drawing influence from what I have seen, I go make my own work. The most difficult part is to select the right data and information to work with. Hence, a genius is someone whom can master filtering, selecting, re-working, and combining existing content (Asendorf et al. 2003). In other words, it is important to look at how an individual deals with existing ready-to-use information in order to justify and evaluate their work. This method is also known as Appropriation, which is not synonymous but rather more participating in the digital age. Technology progress results in the reproduction of materials and ideas at a continually faster pace; the Internet is the most powerful tool that fosters the pace of reproduction. There are many reasons for art appropriation, it could be “political statement, an ironic gesture, a straight-up homage, or the desire to strengthen the power and impact of a particular image through reinterpretation of it,” (Micracosta edu, n.d). In my case, I focus on creating reinterpretations through subtle appropriation with personal and authentic photographs.
Good selections of data are appropriated and remixed to achieve goals in materiality and composition I use nature as my main object to experiment with. Materiality is simulated by software to illustrate emotions in the work. My goal is to not devoid nature but to recreate nature in a way that cannot be seen as natural. ‘Surveillance’ demonstrates our virtual identity while depicting the problem of this identity as always being visible and watched by the technology in one’s surrounding. ‘Dear Boy’ is more appealing in terms of fashion; it depicts the integration of natural elements and elements simulated by software, to create confusion of what’s real and what is not. It communicates the idea of a hyperreality that still has the potential to be developed.
Compositions are assembled in a way that makes the work look unnatural or even disturbed. The method reflects a globalized material/capitalist world; it is an exploration of nature and reality that is not natural due to the increasingly mechanized and industrialized society. Other than that, the work needs to look aesthetically pleasing online, familiar yet alienating, through high contrast and colors that pop. The themes are experimental photography, strange feelings, object vision, un-nature, nostalgic futures, and ethereal color palettes.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Greek/Surveillanceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; illustrates how material objects/technology become to define what we are >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
DEAR BOY
I came across Speculative Realism, a metaphysics theory originating from a workshop at Goldsmith’s College, University of London in 2007 (Phetteplace, 2010). A subset of the theory is Object Oriented Ontology; it states that “everything, including human, nonhuman biological creatures, objects, concepts, are equally viewed without any privileges of any viewpoints, especially humans” (Hayes, 2014). In other words, objects exist independently from humans and are not reliant on their perceptions. My work is to speculate how technology perceives; such a perception would be decentered from human perceptions. The idea is to not to disregard human beings but rather to start thinking about objects/technology’s role in shaping us.
The theory inspired me to illustrate post- humanization in three different ways: (1) Portraying humans beyond their physical form; i.e. how our identity and body are dispersed and scattered on the World Wide Web (2) Portraying
how
machines
view
life.
(3) Re-contextualizing objects and space without conforming to human viewpoints. .
THE NEW SPECULATIVE AESTHETICS
HOLY-SNAP
“The idea is to not to disregard human beings but rather to start thinking about objects/technology’s role in shaping us.”
---NOTE: ‘Hyper-consciousness’ portrays one’s self on the virtual world; the self that is being coded, constantly updated and always available. It roughly communicates my idea even though it only fulfills a small part of my vision. My goal was to make the photo more large-scale to achieve the ‘unnatural, disturbing’ look and the idea of our various identities existing on the Internet. I thought of having at least 2-3 more models but this was not possible due to lack of resources. However, in general, the work lays down the basic foundation of my idea at this point.---
HYPER-CONSCIOUSNESS
--NOTE: The ‘ERROR’ series visualizes a camera’s failure to recognize faces, resulting in an insufficient visual. I acknowledge this series as a small part of my investigation in object-vision. It successfully appeals and communicates my idea well, however, it still has more potential to be worked on.
â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;In memoryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; prompts one to re-imagine the way objects are presented, while reflecting digitalization as a huge part of life that rapidly replaces and alters our habits from the within.
POSITION OF PR
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PROENZA SCHOULER CAS
RACTICE
SE STUDY
A contemporary fashion brand that progressively embraces internet culture is Proenza Schouler. They started with 2013 ad campaigns that used Tumblr web art as inspiration. Ever since, they have been tailoring their posts on social media, including: GIF-based posts on twitter account and collaborations with contemporary digital artists on Instagram to fit with the younger, trendy, hip demographics (Mallett, 2013). After their virtual Second Life fashion video â&#x20AC;&#x153;Desert Tideâ&#x20AC;?, the brand has attracted a huge social media fan-base, more than its design peers. Their digital strategy lies entirely in how to make these online channels fun and entertaining toward the younger, urbanite market. To increase brand awareness, they have tapped into online-Word-Of-Mouths and buzz marketing to enhance curiosity toward their products. As high-end brands such as Proenza Schouler are trying to combine the luxury polished fashion with the contemporary and rougher side of the Internet. This is where I believe my practice would fit in. Therefore, in Unit 3, I want to drive the focus back to the fashion side with more experimental representations. At this point, most of my work is web-based (internetgrapes.tumblr.com). However it is crucial to make it available offline. My purpose is to make the audience feel like the work belongs to the Web, but it also could exist in an exhibition as physical objects. I will start with a mini fashion print collection as an offline/physical representational method, in a similar manner to how Proenza Schouler created their Tumblr inspired collection. My goal is to create a unified virtual aesthetic installation in a physical space. The prints will be presented in the MA exhibition together with web-based artwork on digital screens..
OVERVIEW
Overall, the work produced in unit 2 has helped me to clearly define my practice and provide a direct path to the next unit. I started with the existence of the Internet as the centrality of my practice, since then I can now coherently outline my practiceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s purposes within the Internet culture and position it commercially. Mostly, my work deals with the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s current state of existence. The work looks deeper into the essence of living in an overly connected network and examines mediums such as objects/ technology that we usually ignore. It allows exploration in colors, forms and concepts, which is deprived of anthropocentrism. However, I cannot ignore the inevitable path that my practice has to take, to be widely accepted outside of the virtual environment. Thus, to embrace the commercial platform is to move my online work to a physical representation seamlessly.
References Asendorf et al (2014). Unoriginal Genius. London: Carroll / Fletcher Project Space. 31 October - 22 November, 2014. Baudrillard, J. (2002). The Hyper-realism of Simulation. In: C. Harrison and P. Wood, ed., Art in Theory 1900 - 2000: An Anthology of Changing Ideas, 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, pp.1019-1020. Hayes, N. (2014). Speculative Aesthetics and Object-Oriented Inquiry (OOI). [online] speculation-journal.org. Available at: http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/ static/f/1181229/24797443/1398712519237/06_ Ha y les_Speculative_Aest he tic_and_Object_ Or ient ed_Inq uir y_OOI.pdf?t oken=qi8%2BPJwtwv%2FS6%2FxtKKKg%2F8HMhH4%3D [Accessed 3 May 2015]. Mallett, W. (2013). Proenza Schouler Weaves Web Art-Inspired Fashion Film | The Creators Project. [online] The Creators Project. Available at: http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/en_uk/blog/proenza-schouler-weaves-web-art-inspired-fashion-film [Accessed 3 May 2015]. Miracosta.edu, (n.d). Appropriation in Art. [online] Available at: http://www.miracosta.edu/home/pajones/common/copyrightwkshp.htm [Accessed 3 May 2015]. Perloff, M. (2010). Unoriginal genius: Poetry by Other Means in the New Century. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Phetteplace, E. (2010). Speculative Realism Resources on an emerging discipline. College & Research Libraries News, [online] 71(6), pp.305-313. Available at: http://crln.acrl.org/content/71/6/305.full [Accessed 3 May 2015]. Turner, L. (2012). The New Aestheticâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Speculative Promise. [online] Metamodernism. Available at: http://www.metamodernism.com/2012/07/02/ the-new-aesthetics-speculative-promise/ [Accessed 6 May 2015].