Irma's mindmaps

Isn't the alternative truth all we have?

A research on the cause and effect of storytelling

Introduction outline : What-How-Why

WHAT

I want my thesis to be about the cause and effect of storytelling, the methods of the rhetorics behind the manipulation. The way the story is told is very relevant to judge the trustworthiness of the information. But how important is it that a story is true? Is there is such a thing as Plato call's a noble lie? What is noble? Was Edward Bernays intention noble if we would analyze his book organizing Choas? I think I believe there is an ultimate truth, but couldn't you say that the truth is always subjective interpretation? That there would always exist an alternative version of my interpretation of truth and therefore I could never tell the truth?

HOW

The idea is to frame my thesis in a magazine structure, You could think of fictional interviews, small essays, film review, comics, etc. I think it is interesting to shape my thesis story into a form that connects to the target audience I'm aiming for: Interested in art, but doesn't feel they have the time for a pack of A4's. Herby, I would like to keep in mind the writing "rules" from George Orwell, to shape information in an approachable way. This form is the apple-sauce and the information/knowledge the necessary vegetables you need to eat to be healthy. (Does this make sense? Or is it a Dutch thing to mix apple-sauce with a meal to make their children eat vegetables?)

CLICK HERE FOR MAGAZINE MOODBOARD PROPOSAL

I would like to ask some help from others, for example:

• I would like a fellow artist to make illustrations by some of the essays.
• I would like a journalist to interview me about my work in the past and the graduation project. I can imagine it would be interesting to read about my work written by someone else.
• I would like to ask a Storyboard Artist to create a scene from one from the movie. example

WHY

With this thesis I want to accomplish several things:

• to give the reader more inside into my work and related subjects. Every Character in my graduation movie is connected to a philosophy that I want to touch on in my research. The magazine-style will give me the grid to structure the different theories and show parts of my works in a different way.

• Get a clear understanding of theory I'm working with and how it connects to my work.

Preface - So what's the point of this thesis?

In my artistic practice, I like to play with the language of communication and how this influence the interpretation of the audience. My work method, in a nutshell, is to analyze a recipe of a familiar visual communication language then use these rhetorics to plays with the expectation the public, often I try to create a tipping point in the project to express my comments or to create awareness on the theme I'm working with.

Rhetorics in communication is used on a day to day bases and does affect us if we like it or not. These often well-known tricks are done in commercial marketing, but the seeds seem to have been spread trough politic and mass media communication. Could you say that in every form of information, there is a profit to be made? And if the information is offered for free then it's likely that the receiver is the product? This brings the receiver in a difficult position, they have to judge the intentions of the sender before they can accept the information as the truth. This thesis is representing my own personal struggle: I do believe there is an ultimate truth, an event happens in one way, not multiple ways. And I also believe there are senders with good intention, to tell the truth. But you can ever escape from someone's own interpretation? In my opinion, there is no such thing as an objective point. Believing in a truthful reproduction of an event therefor makes me feel naive. So where does this interpretation bring us? Should we still aim for the truth, even if we are not capable of bringing across a truthful story? When I try to explain my thesis outline to people within my bubble, I often get the response 'But don't we already know that media, politicians, and marketers try to manipulate us?' Could you say that people are already are aware of this point, if so, why is everybody accepting it? Is it too hard to check the facts and are people convicted on their gut feelings?

So how relevant is this research on the rhetorics of storytelling and what insides could you give your reader? I'm interested in the gray area, most people recognise a lie, even if they accept it. Be I'm interested in the difference between presenting the bright side and claiming an alternative fact?

ESSAY : The histrory of the spindocter

When the marketing approach penetrated into Mass Media Communication, how this influences our daily view on information Did politics change when Edward Bernays started advising President John Calvin Coolidge Jr.? Was this the moment marketing tactics entered politics? And what would happen if the gossip around Mark Zuckerberg running for the presidency would be true? How far can he influence our opinion with all the data he collected over the years? Let's assume there are politicians whit good intentions and want to tell the truth and confidence the public with honest facts, what do they have to do to fight back? Does the good guy need a better spindoctor?

• News- The war on facts
• Trump VS Press
• Noam Chomsky VS Press
• Is Edward Bernays appearance in politics the tipping point?

Bibliography for this article

• MANUFACTURING CONSENT The Political Economy of the Mass Media by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky (1988)
• Manufacturing Consent - Noam Chomsky And The Media-The Companion Book To The Award-Winning Film by Peter Wintonick and Mark Achbar (1994)
• The Propaganda Model: a retrospective by Edward S. Herman
• The Century of the Self -Adam Curtis

ESSAY : I'm online, therefore I am

Is it a freedom or a duty to representing yourself as a persona in online media? This article is a research connected to the fictional character Margarita who is a famous social media personality in my graduation film. In this article I what to hit the following topics.

Case studies:

• Rachel Dolezal - a white woman pretending to be black.
• Zjesus Zila - art project of a student from the HKU who pretended online to be on Holiday while she was staying in holland.

Do & Dont's online:

• What is the business model for an influential (this is someone who earns their living with sharing their life)

Philosophy:

• Jacques Lacan - mirror stage
• Socrates
• Maybe connect the movie The Truman Show

ESSAY: Is truth in the eyes of the beholder?

Note @ Marloes/Steve : I'm doubting about this article. My goal was to use this as an argument: If you can't trust your own brain to "copy-paste" a situation, Isn't it naive to believe in a true story?

If you look at researches done within Neuroscience, how reliable could a human brain be? Could you trust what you see is the truth? I think the brain has a very important role in the interpretation of information I'm fascinated to explore this knowledge of "system" thinking, the common cognitive biases and roles of the different parts of the brain

• We are our brain - Dr. Swaab
• Wired for Storytelling - Lisa Cron
• Thinking fast and slow - Daniel Kahneman
• How Stories Change the Brain - Article by Pal J. Zak

ESSAY: WHO TO FOLLOW?

? Maybe a chapter on following a bigger other? Is this connected to my sovereign citizen character in the film?

• "The Big Other doesn't exist" - Slavoj Zizek
• The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
• The religion of comfortableness

BLIND MEETING: Charlie Kaufman meets Edward Bernays

This would be a fictional meeting of these two characters, they debate about the responsibility of the storyteller.

Charlie Kaufman: a screenplay writer and filmmaker. In his work and lectures fighting against storytelling tactics and rules. In my opinion he is an insecure character who is struggling with his aim for sincereness realizing how vulnerable for manipulation you are as a human being.

Edward Bernays: The father of public relations, using his uncle's theories, Sigmund Freud, to manipulate the public. He thinks most people are stupid and need to be manipulated by self-appointed superior beings.

Bibliography for this article

• The Century of the Self -Adam Curtis
• Propaganda - Edward Bernays
• The Father of Spin - Larry Tye
• Inspirational writing advice from Charlie Kaufman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRfXcWT_oFs
• GIFF 2011: Charlie Kaufman master class https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpjgjJqayxI
• KVIFF TALK with Charlie Kaufman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_-xiPLhaSk

ARTICLE: The art of lying

Is there something like a noble lie? (Plato) In this article, I want to research some artists and projects where they lied for the greater good.

I will write something about:

• The Yes Men, they annalize and present themselves using a certain language to be accepted by a target market, then creating a tipping point to reveal the hoax, we've lied to you, but for the greater good, to open your eyes.
• Floris Kaayk
• Video lecture about marketing, an actress is pretending to be a marketer while she shares passionate insides of her profession the viewer assumes it's a similar format as the famous Tedtalks videos. The lecture starts light and funny, and there are two tipping points. The first one is when she presents cheerfully how marketing techniques are used to make the consumer feel better about the torturing animals, the atmosphere changes while the audience feels tricked. And the second one when she reveals her true intention, to hold up a mirror and make them realize they are part of this problem.see my notes on this page Analisis of Video: e-talks - The Secret of food marketing

ARTIST TALK: Interview with Irma Oldenburg

In this article I want to share and reflect on my work and methods over the years, what did I make in the past and my thoughts behind my graduation work. Now I thought it can be interesting to ask someone else, a journalist (perhaps student) to interview me and write this article.

ESSAY : I'm online, therefore