User:Pleun/grad/Proposal2ndversion

Word count 1500 max.

Project Proposal

“If once we were able to view the Borges fable in which the cartographers of the Empire draw up a map so detailed that it ends up covering the territory exactly [...] this fable has now come full circle for us, and possesses nothing but the discrete charm of second-order simulacrum [...] It is the real, and not the map, whose vestiges persist here and there in the deserts that are no longer those of the Empire, but ours. The desert of the real itself.”

(Baudrillard, Simulacra and simulation)

Abstract

This yet untitled project will be an audiovisual experience which will explore the alternative therapy of the 'Sensory Deprivation Tank' or 'Flotation Tank', not only as a Technology of the Self, but also use it as a window to talk about a bigger ill in society, which for now I will call by the same name as that of the 2016 documentary by Adam Curtis: 'Hypernormalisation.' With which I mean the tendency of our modern western society of trying to escape from instead of dealing with the complexities of this world all while keeping up appearances of a fully functioning society.

“[...] however the past 40 years, politicians, financiers and technological utopians, rather than face up to the real complexities of the world, retreated. Instead they constructed a simpler version of the world, in order to hang onto power.”

(Hypernormalisation, Documentary, BBC)

I will describe some of the tendencies I see in society that express this form of escapism, hypernormalisation, further below:

Sensory Deprivation Tank

The Sensory Deprivation Tank for me is one of the most extreme expressions of this behaviour, where we literally hide ourselves from all stimulation by voluntarily climbing into a coffin-shaped, womb-like pod, which with it's white, shiny and rounded exterior reminds me of the way 90's architects and designers described furniture of the future. This strange form of commodified relaxation is seen as a healing therapy, all the while similar sensory deprivation techniques are used as a system of torture within the walls of monstrosities like the prison base at Guantanamo Bay.

“I wonder if sensory deprivation could work towards deconditioning or mitigating the damage caused by all this technology?” “Not just the technology. I think it can the mitigate the damage of living in our society in general”

(Sensory Deprivation Tanks, Documentary, VICE)

“When you are in the tank you are cleansing the doors of perception. When you come out you are like a baby coming out of the womb and seeing things with fresh eyes [...]”

(Sensory Deprivation Tanks, Documentary, VICE)

Alt-Right

A whole other example, cause and effect of this trend of escapism is the huge rise of populist politics – especially the alt-right movement – everywhere in western society, which promotes simple solutions to extremely complex problems.

Technological utopia

A fourth trend is escaping into the technological utopia of for example Elon Musk, who is hoping to colonize Mars within the next 30 years, or Raymond Kurzweil who is a public advocate for the belief in and workings towards the singularity.

Method

Within the project I will try to deconstruct systems and language used by these tendencies and re-use them to undermine them. Each example will provide certain parts of the project, who together will form a strange alternative reality, a hyperreality if you will, which will highlight and comment on current events.

Minor Literature

Vaporwave

Another example is the relatively new, but already completely evolved subculture, visual language and musical genre of Vaporwave. Born in 2010, Vaporwave began as an “ironic critique of global capitalism in the form of sample based informercials and home shopping networks” (Urban Dictionary) that used the empty promises within capitalism as a critique by heavily overusing brand aesthetic in combination with glitch/glitter/fluor, Roman statues, early 90s web and more. The subculture later completely transformed into the subject of its own critique and was declared dead, when MTV and Tumblr started incorporating it in 2015. At the end of 2016 it is definitely not dead, it is actually more popular than ever, but it's intentions are unclear.

Practical execution

Right now I'm thinking of using a space in which i can steer the sensory input of the public in the space. Perception management.

reveal and comment on structures and relations in society that are not always

Further Context

Technology of the Self

One of four "technologies" as described by Michael Foucault is the Technologie of the Self:

"[...] which permit individuals to effect by their own bodies and souls, thoughts, conduct, and way of being, so as to transform I themselves in order to attain a certain state of happiness, purity, wisdowm, perfection, or immortality."

Hypernormalisation

“The term "hypernormalisation" is taken from Alexei Yurchak's 2006 book Everything was Forever, Until it was No More: The Last Soviet Generation, about the paradoxes of life in the Soviet Unionduring the 20 years before it collapsed.[3][4] A professor of anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley,[5] he argues that everyone knew the system was failing, but as no one could imagine any alternative to the status quo, politicians and citizens were resigned to maintaining a pretence of a functioning society.[6] Over time, this delusion became a self-fulfilling prophecy and the "fakeness" was accepted by everyone as real, an effect which Yurchak termed "hypernormalisation".”

(Hypernormalisation, Etymology, Wikipedia)

Escapism,

This trend is found in all kinds of different aspects of our society. From the massive amounts of misinformation floating around in our filter bubbles which creates tiny personal universes where everyone agrees and bias is fed, to the next president of the United States denying global warming. From Elon Musk promising to take us to Mars to

Post-truth

Relation to previous practice

In continuation of the

How design can reveal and comment on structures and relations in society that are not always visible, while, or maybe because, it pushes the boundaries of its own discipline.

Social and political messages, exploring my stance on the ills of society.

Exploring alternative ways of narrative. Exploring

Thesis intention