It is night, and somehow, the air is heavy with sorrow. She comes out for one last time, but her heart is torn between returning to the 2nd space, or staying in the real 1st space. However, she accidentally destroys her portal-frame on her way out: effectually fully closing the way she manages to flow in between worlds. She panics, for she is stuck, and she remains the sole being of a product of both worlds.
Isolated, she circumambulates around the only space she knows. She finishes up the whole of the broken, and realises why; she herself has been destroying her space with the X (close tab) on her hand. Her own existence is unstable – she does not exist in the real world. Thus, she marks her own finale: she X-es herself from the real world.
Act III: The DeathShe is now free, present in the real space! But what is she to do now??? Feel free to comment, or participate! (Part 3 of final project broadcast)
The elaborate, premeditated death of Tania Tay on online (social) media
Overview The performer Tania Tay would go through elaborate funerary rituals, albeit abstractly. She first builds a mini tentage, chants, dons on white clothing, and does superficial, ridiculous and elaborate walking rituals. Lastly, she sets up her final resting place, and lies down.
While the entire performance carries on, the screen slowly glitches. At the end of the performance, the glitch would be horribly glitched until only a slight semblance of the form can be seen.
Objectives To celebrate, flamboyantly, the ceasing of Tania Tay’s online identity. It exposes the temporality of the constructed presence within the artificial third space, and deconstructs the artificial, artificially.
Interactive Component The project having a set, definite ending (the death) that viewers are unable to disrupt or stop. However, viewers are still able to input their comments via the fb live comments, which would be read by the performer and acknowledged, but callously discarded as she continues on her death rampage. The project is a strong statement of the artificiality, and wishes to impact it on the viewer.
Technicalities Two computers/screens would be involved.
The first screen would show the captured footage, but will further process it within max msp for the glitch to occur. The second screen will capture the entire processed footage from the first screen. The camera will be affixed to the performer, adopting a first person point of view shot.
…a (actual and/or simulated) break from an expected or conventional flow of information or meaning within (digital) communication systems that results in a perceived accident or error. – Rosa Menkman in The Glitch Moment(um), (2011)
Glitch is essentially, deconstruction. Deconstruction from the expected flow, which I felt was a suitable metaphor for death: the sudden break in living; the startling lack of continuity. After death, the body breaks down, a decade of living and progress unraveled. I find it noteworthy to continue on this idea of deconstruction, and felt that glitching the broadcast from start to the end finalises in the poetic allusion of the deconstructed constructed self.
Screenshot of Grand Theft Avatar: Liberation of Lynden Dollars
In this artwork, I loved the idea of transposing a real-life ‘illegal’ situation onto a digitised world where the laws of the known world were later abandoned. Similarly, my project exists on a unstable platform, of combining both the physical world and digitised world onto the third space: the sole platform where the performer’s suicide can be accepted and executed.
Flamboyantly, the online characters commit suicide – like how I want my performer to be. However, I foresee my project adopting a more mellow approach towards death, accepting and welcoming it instead of diving headlong into it.
References [i] Menkman, R. (2011) “Glitch Moment(um),” Institute of Network Cultures
In this broadcast, I seek out young adults to give their viewpoints on social media, in particular Facebook. What better platform to host it other than Facebook Live itself! However, in Singapore, it seems Fb Live still remains a platform which people know about, but do not use as often as other social media platforms (me included).
I thought that these particular incidents were interesting, where fb users actually took advantage of fb live to broadcast less than desired footage, (and henceforth ignoring the viewers as they remain set on ultimately achieving their goal: the incident of the girl who documented her suicide on fb, and sadly, of two journalists shot dead. It was interesting to note that my two interviewees did not know of these incidents.
This week’s video seemed like a continuation of last week’s – but more in the context of a live television show. I continue to maintain: it is difficult to multitask, to look out for feedback from Fb about my online viewers, and to concentrate in the real space with my kind interviewees. It is obvious in the video where I accidentally placed the people out of shot, and changing the orientation of the film. Granted, I could have asked a helper to help me hold the camera, but then, it wouldnt be my very own television show anymore.
Lastly, I would like to thank both interviewees for so kindly being willing to be interviewed.
Overview
In Life Sharing(2000), Eva and Franco Mattes, an New York-based artist duo, critiques the landscape of privacy and ownership on the internet. By exposing their personal computer to the world wide network, they reveal their digital identities intentionally, turning it into an artwork. Ironically, they opt to hide their true identities, by providing contradictory information about themselves, accentuated by their obscure domain of http://0100101110101101.org.
Screenshots and Social Experiment
Screenshots and Social Experiment
Screenshots and Social Experiment
Private emails published in real-time
Home page
Screenshots and Social Experiment
In his text Webcams: The subversion of Surveillance, Steve Dixon claims that the digital recording devices are separated into two paradigms: one, surveillance, voyeurism, but also two, openness, sharing and freedom of expression.
“While CCTV surveillance is commonly covert and broadly concerned with policing, the webcam is characterised by a generally opposite impulse towards openness, sharing, and freedom of expression.” – Dixon. S, in Webcams: The subversion of Surveillance (2007)
The Mattes duo forcibly combined both models in Life Sharing, creating their own version of the open, inviting Big Brother.
Data traffic on Life Sharing
Data traffic of viewers (File types) on Life Sharing
Data traffic of viewers (Directories) on Life Sharing
The term ‘abstract pornography’ nicely summarises the essence of this artwork: a calculated spectacle, it reveals enticingly, yet wantonly. More distinctively, it gives off a pleasurable vibe and allures; why do we watch it? Pleasure gained from its novelty, of voyeuristic exhibition, or of knowing that the viewer have knowledge over the artists? However, it is noteworthy that viewership remains passive, as viewers are unable to edit the files. Ownership by the Mattes duo is somewhat retained, ironically solidifying the notion that the original artist still operates from an authoritative standpoint, despite its resemblance to the Open Souce Community.
A Privatised Exposure File Sharing remains an unorthodox experiment in the artistic landscape, where other artists toil to preserve their Intellectual Property. Instead, the Mattes duo purposefully revealed their art studio, discrediting this policy; privacy is non-existent, and instead a shared trust between viewer and artist is established. On the contrary, as they selectively revealed solely their digital identities – hiding their bodied physical self – they inadvertently impeached a more intimate level of exposure. Private thoughts, and the personal(ised) usage of the computer usually hidden to others are now flaunted in the digital arena.
Summary Life Sharing is undeniably an iconic figure in contending the open source community and its related concerns of privacy and ownership. It reveals what we already know – privacy is no longer a solid, fool-proof concept. Interestingly, like bees to flowers, people are drawn towards connecting with others in real time, perhaps in part of their human nature of desiring friendships, or of transposing real life connection into the digitised world. The gradual loss of connections in the public arena of the digital world has resulted in a more desperate attempt for users to connect with another, be it through friendly or perceived ‘unfriendly’ ways.
“The desire to connect to others in real time may be driven by a response to the ‘loss’ of the public realm” – Dixon. S, in Webcams: The subversion of Surveillance (2007)
This time round it was a more interactive experience, and in contrast with the previous reportage there were many more others in my vicinity. Hence, there was another set of challenge in how to film and angle the cameras – I was conscious that others might not like having the camera pointed at their face hence at some parts of the video, the angles were off.
Having filmed this with a friend by my side, she was able to better point me to areas of interest as I was pretty occupied with looking at what was being filmed; my attention was everywhere. The few people I interviewed were well-mannered and did not mind sharing their views, but they didn’t realise that they were being filmed live. After all, what I did was not something people usually would film.
The interaction was multiplied in this broadcast – with my friend physically beside me, online, and the strangers I interacted with. Despite there not having anyone online watching it while filming this, I knew that later after the broadcast, others will still be able to rewatch it and experience the market at the time I filmed it.
It was however a fresh new experience in getting to introduce the Bedok interchange market to the Facebook population, and as my friend (who stays in the East area) said, ‘Bedok is famous for its food’.
Overview Riot (1999), by Mark Napier, is an alternative Web browser that constructs its pages by merging text, images and working links from recent pages that the Riot user has surfed. The composite then appears on a single page, with overlapping text and imagery in a haphazard arrangement. The browser can accommodate up to a total of three different sites compositions, with a unique composition per browser refresh.
A screenshot of Riot, compositing the web pages Zalora, Laneige and Newnation
Definitely, Riot fits the definition of glitch, as interpreted by Rosa Menkman as,
…a (actual and/or simulated) break from an expected or conventional flow of information or meaning within (digital) communication systems that results in a perceived accident or error. – Rosa Menkman in The Glitch Moment(um), (2011)
On two different spectrums, Riot deconstructs:
1. visual imagery and text arrangement on the webpage; and
2. the idea of a singular web surfing experience
Shattering Boundaries: Physical and Digital In allowing multiple sites to flow together, Riot forcefully expands the virtual environment – sites are no longer constrained within their physical boundaries of the digital medium. Traditional ideas of ownership, territory and authority, already transgressed by the new form of the web (where a percentage of online content has a shared viewership and authority), is further probed: through Riot, it becomes a public space.
The dismantling of browser arrangement in Riot can be perceived as an error to the everyday user; conversely, this ‘error’ also exposes the lack of control users have on the net. Despite the conviction that users are gradually having greater autonomy on the net, they are ultimately still subject to the set web environment. Only after experiencing the have-not, then do they realise what they are privileged with – ultimately a human condition of not being able to appreciate what they already have. As such, glitches can be used to,
…bring any medium into a critical state of hypertrophy, to (subsequently) criticize its inherent politics – Rosa Menkman in The Glitch Moment(um), (2011)
Screenshot of Riot: Text
Screenshot of Riot: Repetitive advertisements
Screenshot of Riot: Repetitive polps
Screenshot of Riot: Working web links
References [i] Menkman, R. (2011) “Glitch Moment(um),” Institute of Network Cultures
Initially, the video was named ‘Cat in the hole’, but later renamed to better reflect the video contents. Similarly, in spite of what I thought would happen in the filming as the situation and filming environment was fixed, the footage turned out slightly different from expected and hence the renaming of it.
When broadcasting, there was nary anyone around me, save for the one odd figure who was passing by the area. Despite that, I felt extremely conscious as I dislike posting on social media being a more private person, and that my video had the outreach to the entire Facebook user population. It felt that I had the power and wield to however, make my own voice heard amongst the sea of media.
As it was my second attempt, the first being a video directly filmed before this, the previous video gleaned comments instead of the second one, as it had the first viewer advantage. The few comments mainly commented on the content, basically aww-ing at the cuteness of the cat-objects. However, I opted to post the second video instead as it felt to be more of a reportage.
Screenshot of previous video shot + comments
I disliked the video footage quality as it was pretty grainy thanks to the bad quality camera and weak 4G data connection, but at the same time, it added to the beauty of live recording – the rawness and spontaneity of it.
![Act III | The Death [Updated 17/4/17]](https://oss.adm.ntu.edu.sg/ttay004/wp-content/uploads/sites/542/2018/04/Screen-Shot-2017-04-16-at-12.21.32-AM-825x510.png)
