User:Pleun/otherprojects/PPC

Proposal identity for PPC.

This is a collaboration with Cees and Sido who want to create a new series of events in Arnhem that are supposed to be a combination of a digital art exposition and a dance party. They created or work for successful events like the recurring Dagschotel and De nacht van Brigant. They asked me to do the graphic design and I will hopefully try to do some VJing in the future. The focus will be to create a new scene in Arnhem around digital interactive media.

Post Pop Culture

Pop culture is basically all about admiration of, or obsession over, the idol. Somewhere last century the entertainer (lowbrow) and The Artist (highbrow), became some non-human entities you’ll see everywhere, but will never touch. The idol as a metaphysic phenomenon. (A replacement to religion caused by secularization perhaps)?

In my opinion, something post that, can go two ways. Either the unhealthy obsession will go even further, to the extreme. (A) (Keeping the examples of the Capitol and propaganda of for instance communism in mind). Or we have entered, like Jos de Mul calls it, the age of digital manipulation. (B) In which case the artist becomes the one to provide a template, a starting point. Everyone can manipulate the work and therefore can/will be an artist. The work becomes this ever changing, ever growing collection of snapshots of the manipulated options.

Biggest difference between these two would be the gap between artist and public, which in A couldn’t be bigger and in B is almost leveled.

A. Prophets of a new era

With PPC you introduce and manifest this new era, and could therefore be seen as prophets of this new era. Leading figures who guide us ordinary people into a the new movement.

So back to the actual event, which until now I kind of see like a combination of a video/digital art expo and a post-dagschotel (correct me if i’m wrong).

To introduce you as these prophets, in the PR as well as at the event, I would like to propose to use your statue/bust. In other words: 3D scan your faces with a kinect and use those scans digitally in media outlets. Think Stalin/Mao Zedong posters in composition, but with a post digital/internet influence stylistically.

If you continue this line of thought you could see the event location as your little island with it’s temporary citizens, laws and culture.

PS. With ‘you’ I mean PPC artists of that particular event (VJ/DJ’s) and/or the public (see B/C). Or maybe pseudonyms or made up characters.

PPS. Inspiration: ZEST is a group of six ex-HKU students who organized a three day digital/visual art festival in Amsterdam for their graduation. Among them are DJs/VJs and interaction/ graphic designers. They’d made some of the most refreshing works I’ve seen in a while. http://www.facebook.com/zestlovesyou

B. Age of digital manipulation

In the age of digital manipulation the question remains who the artist actually is. Everyone could potentially be an artist. We would only provide templates and starting points whereafter we invite the public to interact, create, play.

For example: ask ArtEZ interaction design students to show some work in the extra spaces.

PS. Inspiration: BYOB (Bring Your Own Beamer). International event initiated by Raffaël Rozendaal. Like the title suggests you can bring your own work to the event and share it with other creators while drinking beer. You can sign up as an artist on the website in advance to reserve a spot (basically a power plug). Last time in Utrecht there were 80 artists showing work.
http://www.bringyourownbeamer.nl/
http://www.byobworldwide.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNZ8Z1NUnw8

C. Combo

So my actual proposal would be a combination of A and B, where we do introduce certain characters/artists as these ‘prophets’, but gradually give the ‘public’ more influence.

Potential reading material:
Society of the spectacle - Guy Debord
Post Propaganda - Jonas Staal
Post internet survival guide (2010)