public.NARCISSIST
the.CONTENTS
3........................... Project Area 4........................... Site Analysis 5-24........................... Research 25-63........................... The Project 64........................... Conclusion 65........................... References
project.AREA Public Narcissist is a spacial project located in Pin Lane that will visualize narcissistic tendanices in online media via a bacterial pond. The reason I have chosen this project is to investigate why we brand ourselves online and advertise ourselves to other people via social networks, by visualizing this through Pin Lane I hope to allow others to think the way they present themselves online and whether they are using social media as a tool to aid in narcissistic activities. Narcissism is best defined as: ‘Self-love: an exceptional interest in and admiration for yourself; "self-love that shut out everyone else"’ Narcissism describes the trait of self love based on someone’s ego, self image and vanity. This is a trait that is increasing rapidly in social media. There are a large number of people who believe that social networks are simply an online narcissist tool, which the user can use to increase their ego and self image to a wider audience.
Pin Lane - the site of my project
site.ANALYSIS Pin Lane didn’t hold anything of great interest when I first visited. Ideas and observations I did notice when visiting were: •
Advertising/Branding
•
Double yellow lines along road
•
Car park
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Graffiti on walls of Pin Lane
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The windows and doors along Pin Lane
At this point I decided to find out as much history and information about the Lane as possible. Pin Lane is located in an old district of Plymouth named the Barbican. The Barbican used to be the hub for all trading between Plymouth and the outside world as ships docked there. New street is located just behind Pin Lane and is one of the oldest streets in Plymouth. It used to be the main transport route for goods between the docked boats and Plymouth shops. It was clear that the Barbican had strong roots in trade and transporting of goods, so I feel that it is quite apt that I have chosen narcissism as the base of my project as this is essentially the branding/advertising of oneself, as opposed to the branding/advertising of trade items. I feel that with any project it is important to take note of any history which can add depth to the project.
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Facebook - A tool used to promote yourself
the.RESEARCH A study was conducted by Jean Twenge, a professor of psychology at SDSU. The study surveyed over 1,000 college students, asking them about their social media use. ‘57 percent agreed that that people in their generation use social networking sites (i.e. Facebook, Twitter and MySpace) for self-promotion, narcissism and attention seeking.’ (Daniel Prager, 2009) Personal branding is a word which has been used a lot recently. If you compare this to a basic company model you have your product, i.e. you, your online space and then you advertise this to your potential customers, i.e. other people on social networks such as your friends and family. You then build a community around this brand, i.e. yourself. This highlights a serious problem that some people are using social networks to improve their self-image and advertise themselves as being better than other people. This is definitely not what Facebook would want, they want to build communities rather than divisions between people. On a personal level I always like my profile image to display me in a good light. I believe that social networks are increasing being used as narcissistic tools, the most vein people I know, all being the people who spend the most time on Facebook. Facebook makes it to easy for people to boast about what is going on in their life.
the.RESEARCH The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, better known as ‘The Large Glass’ is a painting by Marcel Duchamp. The piece represents a bride which is on the top pain of glass and her 9 Bachelors in the lower pain of glass. Everything in the piece is outlined with lead wire and filled in with earth tone oil paint. There are many interpretations of this piece, most critics however believe the piece is an exploration of male and female desire as they complement each other. One critic has described it as: ‘The Large Glass has been called a love machine, but it is actually a machine of suffering. Its upper and lower realms are separated from each other forever by a horizon designated as the ‘bride’s clothes.’ The bride is hanging, perhaps from a rope, in an isolated cage, or crucified. The bachelors remain below, left only with the possibility of churning, agonized masturbation.’ In Duchamp’s own words: ‘I believe that the artist doesn’t know what he does. I attach even more importance to the spectator than to the artist.’ The way that this piece has been split into two clear sections is something which intrigued me, the idea of comparing and contrasting something. The piece is split in two which can be unpacked as two contrasting sections. My project is showing people their online identity in a physical space, attempting to bring them back to reality in a sense. People are constantly spending more and more time on the internet and forgetting about the world around them. My project will address this by making Pin Lane a visual part of the internet’s narcissistic nature. As ‘The Large Glass’ is created on a window pain it’s possible to view the piece from multiple angles. By viewing the piece in this way you get the effect that you are looking out of a window, much like the film ‘Reat Window’, being able to view people through the window, in this case ‘The Large Glass’ itself. The piece still holds the ability to be used as a window.
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Marcel Duchamp’s piece - ‘The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors’ (The Large Glass)
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Salvador Dali’s piece - ‘Metamorphosis Of Narcissus’
the.RESEARCH Salvador Dali’s painting ‘Metamorphosis of Narcissius’ is the one most important reference for my project. The painting has been unpacked many times: ‘Narcissus (from greek mythology) fell in love with his own reflection in a pool of water. As he was unable to embrace the image of him in the pool (as it was a reflection) he pined away from it.’ The painting is thought to have been based on a greek myth about a young man named Narcissus. There multiple versions of this myth, one of the most well known is that Narcissus was an incredibly attractive man who disdained all those who loved him. As a punishment the gods created a pool of water which displayed his reflection. He was so overwhelmed with the beauty of this image that he couldn‘t leave it. He didn’t realise that this was a reflection of himself and the myth states that he eventually died by the pool as he couldn’t bring himself to leave an image of such beauty. It’s this almost split personality which I will be revealing in my project. Using Pin Lane to reveal the true you, the inner you. No longer will people be able to hide behind their online identities. Some people’s use of social networks is very similar to this ancient myth in that certain indivduals will spend all day on facebook, much like Narcissus, in being unable to leave his reflection.
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Diego Velázquez’s piece - ‘Las Meninas’
the.RESEARCH Las Meninas is a painting by Diego Velazquez, the painting raises questions about reality and illusion. It has a very unique take on emersing the viewer into the painting and creating a relationship between the two. It has been painted in such a way that the viewer of the painting feels as if they are actually in the painting itself, with the characters all around them. The characters in the painting have been painted to give the impression that they are looking at something behind you (the viewer). Within the painting some of the characters look through you, out of the canvas while others interact together within the painting. You have the artist who is essentially looking through the viewer at the King and Queen who are painted as if behind the viewer. You can tell this because you can see them in a mirror at the back of the painting. There are so many small details to the painting that can be read in many different ways. The painting gives a certain self awareness, that invisible relationship between you and the painting. This invisible relationship has been seen to represent the King and his rule over the Kingdom. This idea is something which I feel is important to my project. The relationship which society has with their online profiles. For example the relationship between people as physical beings and our virtual identities can range from a strong relationship to an almost invisible one. Many profiles simply hint at what they are like in real life, the hint of an invisible bond between physical and virtual indentities, like the invisible relationships which can be found in ‘Las Meninas’.
the.RESEARCH If you start to compare my three major artistic references you can see the progression of my project. ‘The Large Glass’ being created in a window frame is viewed on a vertical plane, compared to ‘Metamorphosis of Narcissius’ which is viewed on a horizontal plane where Narcissus is looking down at his reflection in the water pool. Being on a vertical plane makes ‘The Large Glass’ more of a social piece as it’s easily viewed by many people at once, compared to ‘Metamorphosis of Narcissius’ which is more personal as only one person can get a good view into a pool of water at any one time. In this situation the panoramic views which I created (p 32) act in a similar way to ‘The Large Glass’ in that they are easily viewable by many people on a vertical plane. The fish pond (p34) is closer to ‘Metamorphosis of Narcissius’ as it is viewed on a horizontal plane, more intimate and personal to the viewer. The pond being more subjective to each particular viewer. The reflection in a pool of water acts as a mirror, these are very personal objects as you get a reflection of yourself. ‘Las Meninas’ is more of a blend between the two, being on a vertical plane but still maintaining the intimate, personal relationship with the viewer. It does this by using mirrors in the painting to help describe what is going on in the scene. The painting is viewed on a vertical plane however, with the people in the painting looking back at you as if the viewer is looking through a window into the painting. So the painting retains a social aspect, but there are many personal stories going on within the painting and the fact that the majority of the characters are looking at viewer gives the impression that they are looking directly at you and you are part of the painting. This is similar to my final project piece (p38-61) as it maintains a personal relationship with the viewer as its viewed on a horizontal plane, looking down into the pond, seeing themselves
the.RESEARCH reflected back. This is mixed with the social data collected which displays a number of different people in the form of bacterial growths within the pond iteself, keeping an open feel to the project. Giving the data the form of bacteria also makes the viewer the focus rather than the small micro bacteria, making the project again more intimate to each viewer helping them reflect and relate to the messages in the project.
The Large Glass (Panoramic Views)
Metamorphosis of Narcissius (Fish Pond)
Vertical Social Panoramic Open Objective Macro
Horizontal Personal Focused Subjective Micro
Las Meninas (Bacterial Pond) Blend of both
the.RESEARCH The film ‘They Live’ by John Carpenter has been a strong reference for my project, the film looks into the idea that all advertising is the media/government bombarding us with messages and subtly brain washing everyone to their own ideologies and way of thinking. I want my project to expose this brain washing ideology, for example people who use their online identity for narcissistic means will be exposed through Pin Lane. People often use their profile as a way to push their own ideologies onto others. Another film which has been a big influence is the film ‘Rear Window’ by Alfred Hitchcock. The film is based around a man who becomes confined to a wheelchair, viewing the world pass by through his rear window. Whilst observing people through his window he learns a lot about the people he watches. The aim of my project is to enable people to learn about others in terms of their self-image and ego, viewing from their windows into the pond I will be creating, showing clear similarities between my project and the ideas within ‘Rear Window’.
A number of windows which can be found along Pin Lane
the.RESEARCH The film ‘To Die For’ is one of the most famous films with a clear narcissistic element to the plot line. The plot of the film follows the life of an aspiring TV personality named Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman). She will do anything to get her dream job as a TV personality. She marrys a man involved in the Mafia in the hope his connections will get her the job she craves. When the husband asks her to take time from work she plots to have him killed. Suzanne Stone in this film is massively self-obsessed and narcissistic. This is shown throughout the film and shows albeit on enlarged scale just how narcissists think.
John Carpenter’s - ‘They Live’
Alfred Hitchcock’s - ‘Rear Window’
Gus Van Sant’s - ‘To Die For’
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An example of bacteria which has been blown up under an electron microscope
An example of one of ‘Descartes’ vortex diagrams. These diagrams are used to explain celestial phenomena
Neuron cell structure under an electron microscope
the.RESEARCH ‘Descartes’ vortex theory of planetary motion proved initially to be one of the most influential aspects of Cartesian physics, at least until the mid-eighteenth century. A vortex, for Descartes, is a large circling band of material particles. In essence, Descartes’ vortex theory attempts to explain celestial phenomena, especially the orbits of the planets or the motions of comets, by situating them (usually at rest) in these large circling bands. The entire Cartesian plenum, consequently, is comprised of a network or series of separate, interlocking vortices.’ Descartes vortex theory diagrams are often highly annoated, and contain huge amounts of information whilst still looking quite simple in structure. I believe that it is important for my project that the final outcome is something which is pleasing on the eye, yet still holds a large amount of information which can be extracted quite easily. Descartes vortex diagrams when compared with images of neurons and cell structures under a microscope look very similar, as narcissism is often described as a psychological state, I want my project to have the look and feel of electrons/neurons. By giving my project this look and feel, it will allow me to visualise this psychological state in a physical space, whilst still maintaining the strong link between our mind and bodies. Making it clear that narcissism is strongly linked to the brain. A facebook profile is something which grows slowly, a social network community grows and multiplies in a very similar way to bacteria, in that you add one contact, then you may gain two more contacts from the first and so on. It’s these linked connections I want to visualise.
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D-Tower Installation located - Doetinchem, The Netherlands
D-Tower diagram - Shows emotional links through this diagram
as Meninas
the.RESEARCH The D-Tower project is a project that I like very much, it is a huge orb which has been built in the middle of a small town in the Netherlands. Current feelings of town residents are collected via questionnaires and a website. This data is then displayed through the 12 metre high orb via colour. The project is visualized in two ways: ‘The website is a visualization of the responses of the 45,000 inhabitants of Doetinchem to a questionnaire, written by the Rotterdam based artist Q.S. Serafijn, which deals with daily emotions like Hate, Love, Happiness and Fear. Every month the questions become more precise, and all the answers are graphed in different "Emotion Landscapes" made visible on the website to show how this city is dealing with its emotions.’ ‘The four emotions are represented by four colors: Green, Red, Blue and Yellow, which are also the colors of the lamps illuminating the building.’ This ability for the project to visualize someones feelings in a physical way is something which I want to recreate in my project. Narcissism is not so much a feeling but an emotional state but is still something which isn’t always easy to visualize. The way that data was collected and displayed through the use of colour are other areas which I am interested in incorporating into my project. The D-Tower takes personal emotions and displays them in a very social way, it’s taking these two contrasting styles and intergrating them together which is similar to my project, displaying personal information on social media for all to see.
the.RESEARCH As my project looks into how people are viewed, I started to look at more abtract ways of viewing the world. Michael Webb has a very interesting project named ‘Temple Island’ which involved revealing parts of the world as people journied down the Thames in his submarine/boat style object. These references have been useful for my project in helping me to visualize ways to view the world differently, i.e. how I can visualize the online world in a physical space. Temple Island uses a vessel to allow users to view the island. In a similar style social networks act as a vessel for people to display information and photos about themselves to others. Using my profile as an example, I upload a lot of photos for others to view through sites like Facebook and Flickr, these photos are always images that I believe show me in a good light. With social networks like Facebook one of the more interesting aspects is the ability for other people to upload photos and tag you in them, you have no control over the photos they upload and these could have a negative effect on your image.
Facebook photo - Uploaded by myself
Facebook photo Uploaded by myself
Facebook photo - Uploaded by someone else
the.RESEARCH Facebook photo uploaded by myself
Facebook photo - Uploaded by someone else
The Vessel used in Temple Island
Michael Webbs piece - Temple Island
Michael Webbs piece - Temple Island
the.RESEARCH Another project which I have been working on is ShockCube, a touch table, with a number of mini games with losers receiving shocks to their arms. The actual table itself acts as a mirror of sorts which users can directly interact with. Much like the film ‘Rear Window’ the table allows the user to look through and view a digital world. Looking down at the table also gives back a reflection to the user, almost that they can see themselves in the digital world as well as the physical. The touch table being an object that you look down into again gives that intimate feel that you are the only one able to look into the table at that time.
ShockCube during an exhibition event
ShockCube surface
the.PROJECT The ambition of my project is to look at narcissism and to visualise forms of narcissism using Pin Lane as my medium. The way in which we advertise ourselves online for other people to see through social networks, has been seen as a form of online narcissism by some. ‘The term narcissism refers to the personality trait of self-esteem, which includes the set of character traits concerned with self-image or ego. The terms narcissism, narcissistic, and narcissist are often used as pejoratives, denoting vanity, conceit, egotism or simple selfishness. Applied to a social group, it is sometimes used to denote elitism or an indifference to the plight of others.’ An example of narcissism and how it is changing our thinking towards material objects can be seen through a sub category, corporate narcissism. Alan Down is a leading organizational psychologist and has a wrote a book called ‘Beyond the Looking Glass: Overcoming the Seductive Culture of Corporate Narcissism’. This book looks at two high profile corporate leaders Al Dunlap and Robert Allen and how they are so obsessed with profit and money and think about nothing else. The problem which I am defining is that social networks have been transformed into a breeding ground for people who wish to massage their ego and vanity. ‘Social Media , Pure Narcissism?’ (Daniel Prager, 2009)
the.PROJECT My project requires the public to fill out my online questionnaire, the questionnaire creates a narcissistic rating for each person, the questions are based on traits of narcissists which you can see below. I chose however to simplify these traits into simple questions which seem almost innoquous. • Their lack of empathy colors everything they do. They may say, "How are you?" when you meet, but they are working from memory. They are not interested in how you are.
•
• Virtually all of their ideas or ways of behaving in a given situation are taken from others, people they know and perhaps think of as an authority (mirroring).
• If you share workload with them expect to do the lion's share yourself.
• Their sense of self-importance and lack of empathy means that they will often interrupt the conversations of others. • They expect others to do the day-to-day chores as they feel too important to waste their time on common things. • Listen for the constant use of "I", "me" and "my" when they talk.
They feel that the rules at work don't apply to them.
• They will always cheat whenever they think they can get away with it.
• They love to delegate work or projects, then interfere by micro-managing it. If it goes well, they take the credit, if it goes badly they blame the person they delegated it to. • There tends to be higher levels of stress with people who work with or interact with a narcissist, which in turn increases absenteeism and staff turnover. • They get impatient and restless when the topic of discussion is about someone else, and not about them.
• They very rarely talk about their inner life, for example their memories and dreams.
Not all narcissism is regarding as bad however, there is a healthy middle ground between narcissistic and lack self-confidence. Characteristic
Healthy Narcissism
Destructive Narcissism
Self-confident
high outward self-confidence in line with reality
Grandiose
May enjoy power
Pursues power at all costs, lacks normal inhibitions in its pursuit
Relationships
Real concern for others and their ideas; does not exploit or devalue others
Concerns limited to expressing socially appropriate response when convenient; devaules and exploits others without remorse
Ability to follow a consistant path
Has values; follows through on plans
Lacks values; easily bored; often changes course
Foundation
Healthy childhood with support for self-esteem and appropriate limits on behaviour towards others
Traumatic childhood undercutting true sense of self-esteem and/or learning that he/she doesn’t need to be considerate of others
Desire for power, wealth and admiration
the.PROJECT Pin Lane is surrounded by flats and apartments that all look down onto the street. Relating back to the film ‘Rear Window’ every window tells a story, so I mapped out a rough viewing arc from a number of windows overlooking Pin Lane to establish which parts of Pin Lane were viewable from certain windows.
Diagram displaying the viewing arcs from a number of windows along Pin Lane
the.PROJECT At the beginning of the project I was looking more towards advertising and branding in general rather than specifically narcissism. A lot of items were being bought from the Co-Operative store at the bottom of Pin Lane. The lane was mainly being used by shoppers from the Co-Operative using it as a trade route from the houses behind Pin Lane to the food store. I started to map peoples movements along the lane to see how many people actually used it, and which parts of the lane they were using. This can be seen in the image here, the red lines represent the paths which users of the lane took whilst the white lines represent cars which passed through. All this information was taken in a 30 minute time frame, the image is annotated with the times that people used the street during the time period. This allowed me to start looking at Pin Lane as an advertising space for something, at first focusing on using it as a space for the Co-Operative to advertise their special offers and products.
Pin Lane the advertising space
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Diagram displaying the movement through Pin Lane over a 30 minute period
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Displayed Pin Lane as an advertising space for products sold at the Co-Operative
After looking at Pin Lane as an advertising space for Co-Operative products I evolved the project more towards people. I liked the idea of adding something to ourselves through advertising. If advertisement could be added to a human as an attribute that followed the person as they moved through the lane, whether this be on an emotional or physical level. To try and represent this I put together a number of images which contained floating cubes working their way up and down the lane, these cubes represent the narcissistic attribute attaching itself to a passer by as they moved along the lane and then releasing itself when they move away from the lane. The idea of being influenced by these cubes in that they allowed you to visualize for example someones ego or self-image. How to visualize narssistic traits?
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Narcissistic cubes - These follow Pin Lane users along the lane
Narcissistic cubes - These act as visible attributes attached to users of Pin Lane
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Top of Pin Lane - Panoramic image of Pin Lane displaying only windows and doors viewable from Pin Lane (Movie viewable on Blog)
Bottom of Pin Lane - Panoramic image of Pin Lane displaying only windows and doors viewable from Pin Lane (Movie viewable on Blog)
Car Park of Pin Lane - Greyscale panoramic image of Pin Lane with only reflections from car windows and lights in full colour (Movie viewable on Blog) See References for links to panoramic videos.
the.PROJECT Through my research I found that a lot of my references made a point of having multiple perspectives in the output. ‘Rear Window’ with the view from the window and the view outside, Duchamps piece which was split into two clear sections and not forgetting the ‘Metamorphosis of Narcissius’ with the real world and the reflection in the pool. My project will follow in this vein with narcissism displayed from a virtual perspective through a physical means. With this in mind I looked into different perspectives of the street and carried on looking into the windows along Pin Lane and how the street could be viewed from them. I also took this one step further and started to look into other forms of windows such as car windows and mobile phones as a window of communication. Online narcissism can be seen to have two perspectives, one being the physical person and the second being their online identity, using the internet as the medium between the two. To visualize this I put together a number of images of the lane to create a 360 degree view. The first two display just the windows which can be seen from Pin Lane. The windows were the part of the lane I was most interested in so I removed everything else from the image. The windows could act like gateways for information to flow from the lane through the windows and to the people living in the surrounding houses. The third image displays possible views from car wing mirrors and windows to help visualize how information can be collected from Pin Lane through these windows as they drive into and out of the street.
the.PROJECT The public fill out narcissism questionnaire via the website, this data is then used within the project (www.public-narcissist. co.uk)
A later version of the project with movement captured via the webcam
Fish Pond version of my project with plant life and fish swimming about the pond. The fish flash program can be found here: http://wizzer711.wordpress.com/2010/01 23/public-narcissist-early-fish-variation/
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Part of the final code used to create narcissist spacial diagram
It has taken a number of variations to get to a project output which I am happy with. First the website was created to allow the public to fill out a narcissism questionnaire to collect data for use within my project. Next I focused on a fish pond idea, taking close reference from the greek myth ‘Narcissus’. Each piece of data represented by a fish with a colour relative to each specific piece of data. This version also contained a reflection in the background to recreate the greek myth. The next iteration was to look into motion detection to allow users some form of control in the output of the project.
the.PROJECT The final variation of my project which I am now happy with takes the form of a pond which will be projected onto the floor of Pin Lane. This pond will reflect the user back into the pond, as the user moves bacteria is created at positions in the pond where movement is detected. Each bacteria represents one piece of data collected from the online questionnaire, the narcissistic score is also represented by the number of tentacles within each bacterium. The more tentacles, the higher the narcissistic score (the more narcissistic that piece of data is). The colour of each bacterium is also relative to data score, a higher score being a darker colour compared to a lower score being a lighter colour. Once all the data has been converted into bacteria, data of a similar score is connected together, once this has been completed you end up with a number of bacteria which are all interconnected into one network. This one bacterium merging into one larger bacteria is representative of one social network user joining into other groups and communities within the network (joing Facebook groups or events). So the final project takes strong reference from the greek myth ‘Narcissus’ and Salvador Dali’s ‘Metamorphosis of Narcissius’, I have however given it a modern take, allowing the user to influence bacteria which is grown within the pond. To give follow through with the ‘Narcissus’ reference, the street lamps along Pin Lane will be covered with theatre gels to change the colour of the lamps and give a more atmospheric and fantasy feel. The colour being reflective of the current narcissistic score.
the.PROJECT It also takes reference from ‘Rear Window’ and Marcel Duchamp’s ‘The Large Glass’ as windows are important to my project. The pond acts as a window between the physical and virtual worlds, physical and virtual identities respectively. ‘The Large Glass’ is split into two clear sections, this relates to my project again as a split between virtual and physical identity but it could also be viewed a different way. The bride as the narcissist and the bachelors as the followers/friends, i.e. the bride being their profile page and the bachelors being friends and followers of that particular profile. In terms of ‘Rear Window’ the idea that someone is always watching is never more true than with the internet and social networks. The pond acts as a window into the virtual world almost like a portal which you can look through, you can influence the virtual world from the physical through the pond via the users movement. You can also view the project as a window into the mind and psychological state of the users who filled out the questionnaire. I think that it is important that the project is highly visible from Pin Lane, allowing the windows all around Pin Lane to view the project. The project allows not just the pond to act as a window to the virtual world but also all the windows around Pin Lane as well as they look down onto the Lane and onto the pond. The project will exposes narcissistic tendancies in people and visualize this back to the user through the pond in Pin Lane, allowing people to look and think: ‘Do I use Facebook as a narcissistic tool? Am I narcissist?’
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the.PROJECT One of the outputs from my project, the floor can just been seen in the background whilst the smoke and tubes on the left represent the emotional part of our brains. The bubbles pushing out from the ‘brain’ represent emotions and thoughts being released, whilst the bacteria like objects represent narcissistic emotions and traits which are pushed out of the brain on a subconscious level to be seem by the world in a physical state. Each of these narcissistic emotions being linked by small connections binding them together. The small amount of coils and their wide spread dicates a low narcissistic rating from the data applied to the project in this instance
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the.PROJECT One of the outputs from my project, the floor can just been seen in the background whilst the smoke and tubes on the left represent the emotional part of our brains. The bubbles pushing out from the ‘brain’ represent emotions and thoughts being released, whilst the bacteria like objects represent narcissistic emotions and traits which are pushed out of the brain on a subconscious level to be seem by the world in a physical state. Each of these narcissistic emotions being linked by small connections binding them together. The medium amount of coils and their wide spread dicates a normal narcissistic rating from the data applied to the project in this instance, the increased connections between the nodes however displays all the data as being much closer together than the previous image
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the.PROJECT One of the outputs from my project, the floor can just been seen in the background whilst the smoke and tubes on the left represent the emotional part of our brains. The bubbles pushing out from the ‘brain’ represent emotions and thoughts being released, whilst the bacteria like objects represent narcissistic emotions and traits which are pushed out of the brain on a subconscious level to be seem by the world in a physical state. Each of these narcissistic emotions being linked by small connections binding them together. The large amount of coils and their wide spread dicate a high narcissistic rating from the data applied to the project in this instance, along with relative close positioning of nodes on top of each other
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These images are mock ups of how I envisage my project to look when I set up the installation for real. Showing how exactly the user is expected to interact with the project within Pin Lane. The Public Narcissist flash program can be found here: http://wizzer711.wordpress.com/2010 /04/11/public-narcissist-flash-application/
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With these images i started to play with the light so that it acts as another added reflection of the narcissistic data which is being pulled in from my application. The idea is to locate the project so that windows all around Pin Lane can look down onto the project and get a feel of current narcissistic tendancies from simply looking out of their windows
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These images show the project working in Pin Lane, you also get the lighting change in the images to reflect the data from my online questionnaire. You can also see the location of project allows the people living around Pin Lane to look down onto the project. This allows them to view current online narcissistic feeling from their own windows. A similar effect to the film ‘Rear Window’. A Short video of my project in Pin Lane can be seen here: http://www.vimeo.com/10843323
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Here you can see the bacterium growing in Pin Lane, certain bacteria links together to indicate people who have similar narcissistic personalities. The blue colour of the bacterium indicates this data is representative of people with a fairly low narcissistic personality, possibly lacking in self confidence
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Bacteria growing in the pond located on the floor of Pin Lane
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Installation working in Pin Lane, along with change in lighting to reflect narcissistic feeling
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In this image you can clearly see the reflection of the user and how the bacteria has positioned itself according to the users interaction. A Short video of my project in a second location can be seen here: http://vimeo.com/10879532
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In this image the bacteria has positioned itself together, this indicates that the user moved around in one location, you can also see the connections the bacteria has made to meld into one larger bacterium, the high number of tenticles represent higher than normal narcissistic tendancies in the data collected
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The smaller amount of bacteria in this image indicates less people in this collection of data. The number of tenticles on each bacteria is less than in other images indicating a low narcissistic value also
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This image displays a user interacting with the project. The bacteria growing around their hand, the idea that you can lean down and almost touch the pond.
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Shows interaction with the project and bacteria growing in the pond
You can see the reflection of the user in the pond and how the bacteria isresponding to this interaction
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Bacteria which has grown and melded into one single bacterium
Second image of bacteria which has grown into a single bacterium
the.CONCLUSION I belive that my project does a great job of visualizing narcissism and the virtual world in a spacial project, the output is visually appealing yet easy to understand the issues I am posing. I believe the project has achieved what it has set out to do and will have an impact on people, in that after viewing the project they will question themselves, and be more aware of the way they act and portray themselves to others, they may feel they are too narcissistic or maybe that they lack self-confidence. They will be able to see just how narcissistic online media can be and the effect the internet is having on us psychologically without us even noticing. To help users of Pin Lane relate to the project, residents of Plymouth who completed the questionnaire gain double the influence than someone who lives elsewhere, meaning the output has more meaning to Plymouth residents. The idea of using Pin Lane as a location works well in terms of utilizing the windows nearby, allowing residents to look down onto the project, complementing the relationship between user and the pond, as a window into online media. However the cobbles on the street floor did prove problematic in terms of picking up all the detail in my project. This is the reason I decided to set up the installation in a second location also, to better show the detail in the project. My project can work well in many different locations, and is not restricted to any one place. Overall I feel the project has worked and bridging the digital divide and looking at physiological aspects of social networks has made the project an intriguing one. If I had the chance to do the project again there are a few things I would do differently. I would collect more data, I would also add names to the bacteria so that people could view their exact influence on the project, making it easier to compare themselves to others. I would also continue to install the project into different locations.
the.REFERENCES Carpenter, J (1988) They Live Influence on Project: In this film there are glasses which expose branding and advertising as brain washing tools and controlling on the reader. Online narcissism on social networks has it’s similarities as some people upload all their details and best pictures to entice people to buy into their ideologies and their ‘online brand’. This could be seen as a version of subtle brain washing.
Dali, S (1937) The Metamorphosis of Narcissus Influence on Project: This painting puts forward the idea that everyone has two sides to them. One being a side you can control and another more of a subconscious side which you don’t have much control over. Narcissism is more of a psychological attribute that people find very hard to control or change, in ‘The Metamorphosis of Narcissus’ this would be represented by the reflection in the water.
Duchamp, M (1915-1923) The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even Influence on Project: In Duchamps piece there is clearly two different sections, this idea that everybody can have two sides to them, whether this be good and bad or more appropriate for my project the ability to have an online brand and a physical brand. I.e. the online brand being yourself on a social network site compared to the physical brand being you yourself.
Hitchcock, A (1954) Rear Window Influence on Project: The idea that if you watch the same area for an extended period of time then you will learn a lot about the people who live or use that area. In the film he learns about his neighbours, in Pin Lane people would learn about the ego and narcissistic traits of the people who live close by or within Plymouth.
Prager, D (2009) Social Media, Pure Narcissism? [Online] available: http://www.theoceanagency.com/blog/20090826/social-media-pure-narcissism/ Influence on Project: A very good article looking at narcissism in social networks and on the internet.
Thomas, D (2005-2009) Can You Recognise A Narcissist? [Online] available: http://www.winning-teams.com/recognizenarcissist.html Influence on Project: Contains a lot of useful information about narcissism and ways to test yourself to check if you have narcissistic tendencies. Used information from this website to create my questionnaire.
Descartes Vortex Theory Influence on Project: The diagrams created using this theory give a look that is very similar to the effect I want from my project. The way the diagram is annoated, means the diagram holds a lot of information but can still be understood.
Las Meninas Influence on Project: Painting acts as a window, makes you the viewer part of the painting.
D-Tower Influence on Project: Collects data in a similar way to my project and also displays emotions in social setting, very similar to my own project.
Links To Panoramic Videos http://wizzer711.wordpress.com/2009/11/10/panoramic-reflections/ http://wizzer711.wordpress.com/2009/11/01/window-and-human-connections/ http://wizzer711.wordpress.com/2009/10/25/pin-lane-panoramic-window-model/ http://wizzer711.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/panoramic-pin-lane/