User:Mxrwho/The Final Project/The what, the why, the how
The what
The subject of stereotyping seen from different angles: What does it do to a person, how is it established through cultural norms, how are we both victims and perpetrators, what agency do we have, what choices can we make. The topic will be explored through the installation of a series of projects in a setting reminiscent of a retro pre- or early-adolescent bedroom. The experience is meant to be progressive but not necessarily linear and visitors are welcome to interact with the objects (change the page order of the non-linear, loose-leaf publication, pick up the photos, bring the cassette player close to their ears, play with the volume and the buttons, play with the midi, use markers and pens to leave their feedback). The visitors:
(1) Look at themselves in a mirror.
(2) Read an illustrated publication and look at old photos. Look at posters and images from old magazines (mounted on the wall).
(3) Listen to songs on a cassette player.
(4) Watch a projected video piece.
(5) Play with a midi device on a computer.
(6) Look themselves in a mirror.
(7) Reflect on their thoughts (and write them down for me to harvest).
(1) An illustrated publication, loose-leafed and non-linear, on biases and gender dysphoria, based on my personal experience.
(2) Three audio pieces on a retro playback device (during the public moment this became a cassette player: Easier to make happen, better fitting in the whole concept of pre-adolescence that runs in the background as supportive setting). Three songs (here are the first two), based on interviews with various people about their experience with biases. (Since much of nominalism is distributed as spoken word, the auditory element is important. The music will also include loops and repeated phrases, showing again how repetition can lead to novelty.)
(3) A virtual midi device (for now built in python but may convert to Web API), where the 'player' 'plays' between "I am", "You are", "He/She is" and "They are", and chooses between derogatory characterization and positive adjectives. (It invites people to feel overwhelmed by what is thrown at them and to make combinations that turn the negative wording into positive.)
(4) A series of playful short advertisements on screen(s) playing on repeat, promoting the notion of empowerment through subverting derogatory characterizations with the help of repetition.
The visitor is invited to sit in front of the first mirror, then interact with each project in order to experience processes and results that occur naturally in societal interactions, and then sit in front of a second mirror and fill in the prompt "I am ___". This order adds a performative dimension to the work and creates a visual analogy with the positioning of the individual in relation to nominalism. [The purpose is to show that there is agency for the (re-)formation, or indeed retainment, of identity and norms in our ability to think and interact with others, even when the setting is overwhelming.]
The how
Each project informs the other. They are all developed more or less simultaneously:
(1) The illustrated publication was created with a wacom tablet and Krita. It was the product of an effort to make the topic relatable and coherent.
(2) Songs based on interviews with various people about their experience with biases. The music is the product of experimentation with open source and freeware software (Audacity, Bandlab) with either more classical composition approaches (different tracks, bass, strings, drums etc, or more experimental, creating melodic lines through the manipulation of recorded voices). Since much of nominalism is distributed as spoken word, the auditory element is important. The music will also include loops and repeated phrases, showing again how repetition can lead to novelty.
(3) Three virtual midi devices (for now built in python but may convert to Web API), where on one the 'player' 'plays' between "I am", "You are", "He/She is" and "They are", on the other one each key produces a derogatory characterization and on the third one each key produces positive adjectives.
(4) A series of playful short advertisements on screen(s) playing on repeat, promoting the notion of empowerment through subverting derogatory characterizations with the help of repetition. Advertisements can be a good vehicle towards this purpose. I am considering colorful stop-motion videos with cardboard models (rather than fully animated).
Timetable
I will try to have everything ready or brought to a very good point by the end of February, and then fine-tune.
(1) The booklet is in the making as a prototype. I will present it during the public moment (beginning of November).
(2) Mid-October: One of the songs is ready (and by the end of the week hopefully a second one) to be presented at the public moment (beginning November) in a digital format. It was created using Audacity and the music was made purely by manipulating the "lyrics" to an extreme degree. One more is in the making, but this time I will use a different approach. Probably the most time-consuming part of the project as a whole will be getting the vinyl pressed and this is why I consider the end of February a safe estimation. Should I go for cassettes instead?
(3) (Update 22 October) The three midi devices are integrated into one. The "game" is better designed now, but I still need to make some changes based on the feedback I got on one of them during the colloquium (include more voices) but I have made some choices regarding the direction this project is taking. Since the project will be presented on a screen, it makes sense to add instructions on its use (and maybe a short introduction) there. I will also create a Web API version and decide between the two. This is something that will also be presented during the public moment.
(4) The last part is the most underdeveloped at the moment, so I need to get started asap and have something concrete ready before Christmas.
I will ideally also have the first good draft of the thesis ready by February.
The why
We are shaped by how others see us, to a degree that we often disregard. I want to explore the effect of other people's words, of the standards and values imposed on us by existing beliefs (and by the consumerist culture), and how the power of words shifts through action. In this project I will focus on gender dysphoria and biases to keep it narrow and hopefully relatable enough.
The who can help
Probably no one. I am doomed. Joking.
The people who participated in the workshops and submitted interviews have already helped a lot.
Feedback during the public moment or during other instances will also help.
Varied sources and conversations, from a common understanding of biases to a specialist's opinion help.
Maybe some insights into vinyl pressing and web API's vs python scripts could be useful.
Relation to previous practice
A lot of work with text, sound and image. The project brings practices that I have used in the past together. Regarding research, it also relates to work I have done in the past regarding nominalism, eg. to the SI23 project that questioned the server-client roles and the relevant terms.
Relation to a larger context
The work as a whole is unfolding through exploring the creation of biases, the formation of habit, the process of overturning biases, the role of repetition and performativity. Each work will contribute to the narrative in a different manner.
Starting points: A frequent walk on the same route, the spreading of an opinion, an obsessive thought. Repetition and nominalism. Repetition as variation. Repetition as progress. The narrative value of repetition. Repetition and performativity.
Keywords: Dynamic nominalism, repetition bias, interactivity, intentionality. Associations, metaphors, counter-mapping, the dialectical space as a dynamic, contextuality.