Seven Day Project

Day 1:
Read : Antisocial networking

Day 2:
After reading the article i decided to figure out how many people in my contact list in facebook i actually talk to, see occasionally and haven't seen or spoken to in years. With this in mind i have made a graph/table. The top photo is me then comes the people that i talk to occasionally on facebook, under that the people that i don't talk to on facebook but who i have seen personally the last couple of weeks, and the bottom group are the people that i haven't seen or spoken to neither on facebook or personally in years.

Day 3:
Today i decided to brainstorm the term Antisocial networks, after doing a brainstorm i picked out words that i found the most important.

Picking out words

The chosen words

Day 4:
Collected images that to me had to do with Antisocial networking. Inspiration images

Day 5:
In this project i decided to focus on screens. After finishing my brainstorm and looking up pictures that for me where "anti-social" i realized that "social" networking sites allow people to write to each other, see each other and be updated constantly with what is happening in their lives. The problem however is they are missing the personal aspect of it, a profile is nothing more then a empty room. All they are actually talking to and seeing is a screen and nothing more.

I find that a social networking site works like a tall building with many windows and one entrance way. Everyone that works in the building all come in the same way and then become part of the network of working people within the building. The building is however nothing more to them then just a place where information gets shared and work gets done. As soon as the people leave its just a empty building and nothing more. Its like standing outside the building at night, the windows that are still showing light are the rooms in which people are still working. As soon as a light gets switched off you know they are going to leave the building to go home. Patterns start to emerge when standing outside for instance it becomes clear which windows belong to one room, which rooms belong to one company, which windows stop working first and which windows work through the longest. As soon as all the lights have been switched off, there is nothing less to see then a dark tall figure of a building, and nothing else! This all can be linked back to social networking sites. What sites such as Facebook and Hyves do is they give you an empty building in which you can add your network of contacts. The empty building does not represent you its simply a place where information gets stored and shared. However also in these networks patterns start to emerge, even if you haven't added any information to your profile one can see just by looking at your network of "friends" what type of person you are, how old you are, what sports you attend to etc. and this information is often misused by, for instance, advertisement agencies to reach the correct target group.

This Youtube movie shows how a building lights up at night and how scattered the lights are, at the end of the movie the lights in the windows start too work together forming one image.
Timelapse, Building & Lights

Day 6:
After doing a brain storm and finding pictures that to me represent "antisocialism" i came to the conclusion that the main thing that social networking sites are missing is the actual person itself. A screen is not able to transform itself into "you" and will never be able to despite the amount of pictures you add to your profile or the way you "pimped" it. It will always remain a simple webpage that stores information that you add to it. The personal aspect will never be found behind a screen. Social websites, and technology as a whole have made people lazy, people rather send their friends a small little message on facebook or hyves or call them on there phone then actually go visit them personally. Technology therefore has created a barrier that prevents us from having these personal relationships with others.

Having this in mind i starting to search for a way in which i could represent this idea. I then came accross this commercial that strives for a smoke free life "voor een rook vrij leven". It shows a man that goes through everyday life but is surounded by a bubble that prevents him from having any personal contact with anyone or anything what so ever. Even though he goes to a party, sees people their and talks to them and stuff, this bubble constantly creates this annoying barrier that he cannot cross.

To see the commercial go to: Bubble Netherlands
These are a couple of stills from the commercial

Day 7:

A row of apartment blocks one on top of another facing another row of apartment blocks one on top of another is also a orderd network of people. The people living on one side can see what is happening inside the homes of the apartments that are facing them on the other side, as well as vice versa, but cannot see what is happening inside of the homes of those living next to them. You are able to look right into their homes see what they are doing what they are eating and whether they are home or not. Alot of information is being shared just by looking outside of your own window and into theirs, but it is very unpersonal. This is the same as for instance facebook and hyves, they too are a network of people neatly ordered one on top of another and are also constantly sharing personal information but this too remains very unpersonal!.

This is a picture i took outside of my house, showing how i am able to look right into their homes.

This is another example of how these apartments have turned into TV screens continuesly showing new information.

This is a map i drew, it shows the view i have from my house, and the view they have from theirs.
This movie is a perfect example of what i mean. It shows how a man is able to project the inside of the house on the other side of the street onto his own wall using a camera obscura. Thus truly turning the apartments into screens that are constantly spreading personal information. To see part of the movie where this is very clear go to Addicted to love

Additional project:
An important term that continuesly popped up whilst doing my brainstorm was "security". Technology in todays society has made life less personal and everything has become an open book. Almost everything can be found on internet, people can be located by a simple GPS system on their mobile phones, and the pictures that are placed within social networking sites can be used for other purposes because they have no official "owner". Technology has perhaps made life alot easier and simpler but at the same time it has taken away our privacy and has perhaps laid down the ground for a new type of criminality.

Other words that popped up during my brainstorm where screens, cameras, hierachy and a God. With all this in mind i came up with the idea of placing cameras in personal rooms that are often not always visable to the public, such as bedrooms, bathrooms, toilets, offices, etc and then beaming them onto huge screens in public spaces. The cameras despite which room it is will always be on the ceiling pointing down, like a type of "big brother" or a God looking down at you monitoring everthing that is happening in your so called "personal" life.