My project is aimed to explore the idea of performative behaviour and constructed identities within social media networks. It’s centered around cycles of self presentation and individuals that create a “face” for different types of interactions. Focusing on networks, social media networks seem really intriguing to zoom in on since they blend public and private worlds and the boundaries between these two world start to blur together. The medium that I plan to tackle this topic through is a website. The website will collect data through a survey aimed at millenials that will ask questions exploring performative identity, and then display these answers within the platform. The website will also include a video piece.
The questions that I aim to explore are:
How do you construct a sense of self in the digital age?
How much is left of you when you take away your online persona?
If you don’t have an audience, what are the differences in your day, what you choose to do during the week/weekend, how you present yourself, and how you spend your time?
What are the most extreme examples of performativity among our age group today? (Youtubers, Influencers, Social Media Careers)
My Outline:
Next two weeks: Focus on creating and collecting data on the survey, getting as many people to fill it out as possible.
Dec 3rd: Focus on arranging the data within the website and shifting focus to the video editing and overall construction of the website.
Deliverables:
- Website
- Short Film
- Survey Data
Precedents:
The MCA Chicago had a show this past summer titled, “I Was Raised On The Internet” that explored identity within the digital age and serves as a lot of inspiration for me. In particular one woman named Amalia Ulman created a project called “Excellences and Perfections” in which she scripted a three month online performance of a fake identity on Instagram. She underwent a semi-fictional makeover, faked a boob job, and became a caricature of modern beauty ideals. It was a performative social experiment that critiqued digital identity and people’s reactions to it.
Another example for inspiration is the “I Want You To Want Me” project by Jonathan Harris that we looked at in class. The project collected and displayed data from online dating websites in a really dynamic way and the visual display in the strongest point of inspiration for me.
My plan for this past week was to kickstart my video construction and editing so that I don’t leave it all until the end and begin creating the survey.