User:Laura Macchini/Laura Macchini, I'm already falling apart and I haven't even started the video yet, 2012
I'm already falling apart and I haven't even started the video yet
Description
My graduation project revolves around confessional youtube videos. It consists of a mashup of videos: a series of playlists, streaming from youtube, that will be influenced by the audience's behavior. The content I work with is confessional videos, with a focus on "troubled stories": I have collected so far about 100 clips, 8 hours of video material; the videos I use deal with topics such as sexual abuse, sex change operations, cancer, drug related problems, alcoholism, eating disorders, loss of a loved one, etc. Different playlists refer to the nature of the information given by the protagonists of the videos: there is an 'introduction' level, in which people greet their audience and, for instance, state their name. Other levels refer to the kind of 'intimacy' that would be required to discuss a certain subject in a generic relationship. Three ulterior levels are present: low, medium and high intimacy. Factors that influence the progression of the playlist-storyline are, at this moment, the number of people present and the length of stay of the visitor.
During my tests with the installation I noticed, contrary to what I had previously guessed, that the kind of content that disturbed (and intrigued) visitors the most, was not what I called "high level of intimacy required" (statements like "My brother died today" or "I feel like I can't stop self-injuring"), but the in-between talk, the buildup of the confession, the moment right before describing the problem at hand; a sample statement would be "upset doesn't even cover it, I can't even think of a word to describe how I felt". For this reason, the scale of "intimacy" is going to be inverted: when the visitor/s enter the room, the starting playlist is going to be the one of "high intimacy", fast paced details about the protagonist's problems; the more the visitor/s linger in front of the projection (also the fewer they are) the more the pace of the confessions is going to slow down, and the details are going to become vague. Slower paced, less aggressive revelations invite the visitor to sympathize more with the people portrayed in the videos, encourage their curiosity in their stories. The goal of my installation is to explore the patterns of confession in videoblogs, often borrowed from Reality TV, create an intimate (and somewhat disturbing) experience, out of the remix of various youtube confessions.
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Essay
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