This post is a reflection of the feedback received at the formative assessment of my studio work. This was in regards to the project/ brief titled "cybernetic self".
The guidance tot he direction this project would lead to was mainly focused around three key terms;
sociomaterial
autopoiesis
network self.
It was essential to fully explain and explore each of these as the brief progressed. A deep understanding was needed in order for this knowledge to be portrayed in the visual work presented. As Nick went on expanding further; it was key to uncover personal meanings to each of these phrases and their definitions, as a literal "social media" (only) project would be surface level research and not fully reveal the duality of personality that could be present. Yes, social networks present the published version of yourself (the cybernetic you), but this goes without saying and would be a superficial study as everyone is guilty of behaving differently online. It was important to probe how and why people have multiple personalities including the one seen online.
For this reason my work centred around each persons different personality being reflected on a different layer. The stacking and unstacking of these interlinking layers could hide or reveal different personas depending on which one you want to show or cover.
To link this with my virtual self, I considered what makes me publish something online, and are their factors which make an image or status suitable or unsuitable. For me this was physical appearance, and how the majority of my "selfies" were of myself with heavier make up on and effort taken in hair and clothe styling. This led to another internet popularity.... a GIF. I thought it could be quite humorous to combine the 'beauty' accepted online, and the vulgarity of what we are layering and caking on our faces to reach the level of beauty promoted. To achieve this I thought pop art cartoon features would provide the strong enough contrast to reflect the difference between our real skin and the 'made up version' plastered with additional features. However I thought the piece could also be made with the 'fakery' being edited seamlessly with a digital portrait. I thought this reflected the editing and filtering of photos that everyone does in order to look 'better' online. Plus so many 'add make up' apps and upgrades exist, it is a commonality that self editing takes place before online publishing- so for that reason I also want to edit my own portrait to contain the excessive make up these features are known for.
During the assessment it was clear to see how my tutor had an understanding at where my work had originated from in terms of cyber portraits and the subtle link to social media attitudes. It was addressed well, as he was keen on this being subtlety portrayed and not referring directly to social media related icons and phrases (such as logos and hashtags). This was something I was happy in hearing, as this had been an option I was considering, as the whole point of the added features was to be published on instagram for example. However instead I opted for a more classic output with a print finish. It forms a tactile, physical example of peoples personality levels, as well as having the style of an independent magazine insert. I think the tape bound finish I selected gives this high quality finish, and this was something Nick agreed with as well as acknowledging the value of doing another version in a different bind as an experimentation (saddle stitch). Another output I then considered was framing a single layer as a high finish poster, this too reflected the refined image the frame would contain. The so called 'beautiful' portrait needs to be presented in a beautiful way.
The constructive guidance given here was to expand the outputs possibly. Nick suggested with the poster production, time and effort needed to go in to the text that was placed alongside the digital portrait and also consideration was needed for the typeface selected and why. As the one I presented in the assessment was a small 'maybe' idea and I hadn't gone in to much depth at how and why I would frame it and what would work best when framed.
Another piece of guidance was in relation to sketchbook developments. As the weeks progressed, each seminar lesson I attended I came with new ideas and different brief perspectives; which meant that it took me a longer period of time to decide on a project direction than would be preferred. However Nick finished the assessment saying thats sometimes a consideration of every idea and a long winded initial idea process is needed, in order for the one you decide on to be refined and be inspired all ones thought previously.
