User:Annasandri/thesis/first project proposal

From XPUB & Lens-Based wiki

project description▒▒▒▒▒first version

►What do you want to make?

I would like to make a browser game inspired by conspiracy theories, internet rabbit holes and their role in the creation of storytellings and new systems of belief. I want my project to be a game/experience that uses a similar language of engagement of the technologies that has been shaped accordingly to the human combinatorial mindset in order to trigger a reflection on its structure and its dangers. I am interested in examining how the current system of creating and combining information on the web is also linked with the behaviour and responsibility of tech companies and how it is possible to build awareness by using the same system. Because of this reason I want to use the game as a tool to generate a world that make use of the same mechanisms of combinatory logic, conspiracy thinking and synchronism that exists in the internet.

►How do you plan to make it?

I'm willing to build the game using javascript as a core language and open-source tools for interactive browser games (es.Twine).

►What is your timetable?

October/November:

  • Read and develop a consistent theoretical framework and bibliography;
  • Start to build single game pages from simple ideas;
  • Do technical tutorials on specific topics;

December/January:

  • Write the thesis;
  • Shape the final game's plot/ Define the sequence of interactions in the game (I'll start to assemble and match the little games/pages selecting the most suitable ones);
  • Make people test the small prototypes to have suggestions and feedbacks by "users";

February/March:

  • Write the thesis;
  • Work on the final version of the game;

April/May:

  • Work on the final version of the game;

+ Maybe working on an additional printed publication that can talk about the conceptual framework of the experience, give some facts and tools (might be a printable zine downloadable at the end of the game).

►Why do you want to make it?

I think that in this historical moment is important to be aware of how the structure of the web and the nature of the media platforms we use can take a significant role in enhancing and defining the experience of every daily information research. I would like to explore the dangers and backlashes of dealing with an inexhaustible and collaboratively-built source of information but also pointing out at how internet platforms profit from mistrust, paranoia and blind belief in simplistic answers.

►Who can help you and how?

I think that Micheal/Manetta(?) can help me in dealing with technical issues. Regarding the theoretical and conceptual support I would like to work on whoever is working in a similar field and with similar methods (tutors or also figures out of XPUB/PZI/WDKA).

►Relation to previous practice

As a graphic designer and illustrator I based most of my practise on creating zines/games on topics that people might consider funny, recreational, or mere anecdotical insights but that can have a relevance in make us understand our world and society. I grew up in a religious environment that shaped the way I perceive, produce and consume stories: for this reason my work often floats around systems of faith and trust.

►Relation to a larger context

I would like to use the graduation project as an experiment moving in parallel with my thesis research which will focus on:

  • the human behaviour of creating connections between different sources and storytellings and adapting them into a system of belief;
  • the way this pattern has been translated in the technology we use and subsequently exploited by tech companies and platforms to create profit.

The project will be an experiment to show this mechanism in a game environment.

►References/bibliography

  • "The Library of Babel", Jorge Luis Borges, 1941(short novel)
  • "This Is Not a Game - Conspiracy theorizing as alternate-reality game", Jon Glover, Real Life magazine, 2020 (article)
  • "Rabbit hole",Julia Longoria, Sindhu Gnanasambandan, Larissa Anderson, Wendy Dorr, Brad Fisher, Dan Powell, Kevin Roose, and Andy Mills, The New York Times, 2020 (podcast)
  • "The Apophenic Machine", Molly Sauter, Real life Magazine, 2017 (article)
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