OSS: Hyperessay 2

Check out our live video here! Posted on Jinyee’s OSS page, we created a few webpages where we explained why we chose this topic, the synopsis for our project, process, and Jinyee’s and my combined hyperessay.

On this OSS post, I will be writing my personal reflection regarding this project.

Our contestants for Miss Beauty 2018!

This project was an interesting experience for me. Firstly, it was because I learnt what me and Jinyee’s peers found attractive.

Above are some of the data we collected!

Physical features wise it is:

  • Smile (highest ranking trait by a huge margin)
  • Eyes
  • Long legs

Character wise it is:

  • Confidence (highest ranking characteristics by a huge margin)
  • Kindness
  • Bubbly personality

Despite knowing that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, it is fascinating to know that there are some traits in a female that is attractive to the general public.

The original intent of this work was to mainly investigate how people perceive women online. From the beauty pageant, we were able to find out that the most beautiful contestant was Fan Bing, who is made of:

Winner of the pageant – Fan Bing!

I guess it was probably because it was made out of asians features, hence it looks more natural compared to the rest of the contestants who were a mix of asian and caucasian facial features. And also it is probably due to her having an asian face, which might be more appealing to our asian audience.

It was also an interesting experience to create the avatars from scratch. I think our photoshop skills are not bad as our audiences are unsure about whether they are photoshopped or not. Some where even surprised that they were photoshopped! However, because the contestants looks unnatural, the votings for all the individuals were generally on the lower end.

 

Here are some of the votings we had! Which are generally in the lower end.

If Jinyee and I could push the project further, it would be interesting to ask the same sample group what physical features and personality traits make a male attractive instead. From there, perhaps we could see the disparity between how people view males vs females.

It was also fun to incorporate what we learnt in our OSS class into the topic Jinyee and I want to touch on. It was kind of a challenge to do so, but incorporating avatars, collaborative art and the live stream function elevated our project further.

Live streaming is a platform that is very expandable. Not only are we able to get real time data on the go, but it is flexible enough to do more than talking to the screen. For example, Jinyee and I pre recorded a few VOs to replayed it to make it seem like we are interviewing the pageant in real life. Should one expand their creativity, I believe that live streaming could be a powerful tool as it also has the advantage of broadcasting to a larger audience.

Overall, I really enjoyed this module and the project Jinyee and I worked on. It was also a great conversation starter when I met my friends who was active throughout the pageant contest!

 

 

OSS: Process of final proj (Jinyee and Viena)

For this session, Jinyee and I were mostly developing on the themes which we chose, which is on beauty and the collective space. As we want to get an idea regarding the topic, we started off by throwing a question to our peers on Instgram.

We asked, “What makes a female physically beautiful”. From there, we saw some similarities from the answers.

 

One of the ideas we had was to create a beautiful person by combining several faces of females together, to form the ultimate beauty. We found an app which could do so, and we tested it on our own faces first!

Hyperessay 1: Conceptualisation

For my final project, I am still currently undecided about what I specifically want to do. Here are the two topics I currently want to branch into:

Concept 1: Privacy

For the final project, I intend to investigate the depth of our disregard/unawareness about the issue of privacy among social media users.

The teachings regarding public vs privacy in class piqued my interest regarding this subject. In fact, beforehand I myself was negligent about digital footprints that I have left behind. This was until our guest speaker, Surya Mattu from Brooklyn, New York, personally had a chat with us in class regarding this topic.

What inspired me was his project named Last Seen.  A Wi-Fi packet sniffer project which looks at the memories of our Wi-Fi enabled devices. From there, he could connect the dots of one’s personal life. It really impacted me when he told us about how he found out about one of his friend (or a subject?) cheating on another person just by seeing how one of their phones is connected to the other’s house wifi.

Since then, I have been pondering much about this subject. If one can infer so much fromWi-Fi alone, then what could one infer about us from our social media accounts?  The digital age has collapsed the walls and boundaries of privacy online, and what could be the consequences of such, which is mostly unknown or not taken seriously to my peers and I?

Concept 2: Avatar/Alter Ego/Persona

The main reason why I am motivated to touch on this subject is because recently, I learnt about Lil Miquela. Since kickstarting her account in 2016, she have garnered over 1.2million followers and collaborates with different other influencers and even brands like Spotify. Also, she released a single named “Not Mine” in March 2017.  So who actually is she?

Looks like a normal teen, right?

But look closer.

Posing with her friends

So actually if you take at look at her closely, you will realise that she is a CGI. She is a fictional character made more realistic with captions, posing with people, and if you look closely enough, placing a CGI face over a real body

Over the two years, many were speculating about who is the person behind the account. And it has since been revealed that she is is a fictional CGI character created by Trevor McFedries and Sara Decou as a digital art project.

We all know about the reasons why people choose to don an avatar or remain anonymous online. But with this avatar created on a social media platform, invading a space that does not usually use avatars, then it has evoked many different and interesting reactions online. In fact, it has sparked off quite a conversation as news outlets like New York Magazine covered this “controversial” topic.

And I am still pondering, why so? Why are people interested and following an avatar (especially so after the account is revealed to be “fake”)? I think it is interesting that avatars can be utilised like this beyond a game, into something more “real” instead. Should I want to pursue this topic, how I can execute this topic beyond a gamescape as well?

An artwork we have discussed in class that is similar to the topic about avatars/alter ego is Grand Theft Avatar,  which is a live performance created in Second Life

Conclusion

I want really interested in these two topics and would like to read up and dive deeper into these concepts more before finalising on one.

Micro project: Glitch aesthetics

 

This is home, truly.

Where I know, I must be

Where my dreams, wait for me

Where I know, I must be.

 

Where the river always flows.

This is home, surely.

 

As my senses, tell me.

During my youth, I was hopeful about the future that that is laid out for us in Singapore. But as I grew up, it hit me that things are not as simple as it seems. Going to university does not automatically mean you can get a great job with a pay that is enough to buy a house and start a family comfortably. Or not everyone in Singapore receives the same and opportunities and treatment that I did. And in fact, there are people in our society that often fall through the gaps. The more I read and expose myself to the world I was once ignorant of, the more I understand that things around us are not as perfect as it seems.

My once rose-tinted lenses has has now faded to reality. I guess it is all part and parcel of growing up. But still, I do acknowledge that as a country we are doing extremely well compared to many others. But there are definitely areas we need to improve and I am glad that people are engaging in conversations and exposing these loopholes that we to resolve together as a nation!

Micro Project: Pirate Broadcasting 2

The path from ADM back to hall 4 is a dark and scary one. Usually, I would get too scared to walk through it alone. Especially since it is rumoured that it is haunted, because it is next to Nanyang Lake. I would very much walk one round around NTU (which takes an additional 10mins) than to take that shortcut.

Hence, for this project I decided to overcome my fear with the help of Insta Live.

I wanted to test the strength of our connectivity on the third space. I was questioning:

  • Will I still be afraid, even with people journeying with me through this process?
  • How will they react to my actions?
  • How will I feel to overcome this experience with Insta live?

Things escalated as I realised that somehow that night, the lights were switched off. Usually some street lights will light up the forested path. Watch and see what happens:

I have bad friends. Here are some of the reactions my friends had after the insta live airing:

In conclusion, despite being super afraid initially, talking to all my friends online made me forget my physical surroundings (slightly). I was less unaware of it, and hence much less afraid. Maybe because I feel a sense of security (if I got kidnapped people will know), or it was distracting me from the current environment. Maybe next time if I were to go through that path again, I will start another insta story haha.

Thank you!

Research Critique: Annie Abrahams, The Big Kiss (2007)

 

French performance artist Annie Abrahams uses webcam technology and attempts to kiss through a video call. This is an example of an interaction occurring in a third space, as despite being present in different geographical locations, the physical boundaries collapses as the two individuals starts to feel more immersed in the act.

It brings to the question why Abrahams choose to use a kiss as the main element in the performance.  A kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction,, sexual arousal, affection, respect, greeting, friendship, peace, and good luck, among many others. A kiss is something that is very intimate, yet, how did you feel when you watch the interaction occur in a third space?

Ulay and Abramovic performs’Breathing in, Breathing out’ (April 1977, Belgrade)

Watch a snippet of it here!

What emotions does these art performances, that does not occur in third spaces evoke in you? Especially in comparison with The Big Kiss. It seems like The Big Kiss is far less passionate and intense. It also seems to be more gestural, compared to the two examples above.

And perhaps, because touch, voice, and body signals, which are important for communication, are deprived in the machine mediated experience. This brings to the question to how intimacy is being adapted almost “shortchanged” due to the digital world we live in today.

Of course, we do not need to video call one another and perform The Big Kiss to show love. But on the other hand, we have perhaps unknowingly adapted it into various forms, like sending emojis, or simply dropping a “HPD!” message onto one’s Facebook wall. Ultimately, intimacy in a third space cannot be replaced or substituted.

So where and what are the limits of digital communication?

Machine mediated kissing in a performance = drawing with your tongue = taking pleasure, while constructing an image = a way to be superaware of the other = never totally abandoning yourself = ???????? = not at all like real kissing, it’s better! This might be a female view point. – Annie Abrahams

Like what Annie Abrahams said herself, The Big Kiss is not like a real kiss. To her, it is better due to not having the need to be physically present, which allows a closer intimacy between the two performance. And this is an advantage in her perspective.

Ultimately, different tools and platforms has its pros and cons and we need to be aware and tap on these advantages when it comes to our own artworks.

OSS: Video Double

I have always wanted to be a farmer but my mother always says, “I work so hard to come out of Philippines and now you want to go back?!!!!”.

 

 

 

I quite like fishing and animals in general, so I always envisioned myself working the zoo or with animals/nature in general. Sometimes I wonder how my life would be like should I take courses landscape design in poly or the agriculture course in NUS. But my mother would be so disappointed haha.

Research Critique I: Open Source Studio

Inline with “The Way Of Open Source” by Randall Packer, Yochai Benkler agrees that the assumption where people are only motivated to produce information should they be monetarily compensated is false. For example, a familiar open source we can look at is Wikipedia. A commons where individuals are constantly updating information without any said benefits. On top of Wiki,  NASA Clickworkers, or even the conversations from our Hardwarezone forums.

Wikipedia Logo

With our highly networked society today, the examples above and the article written by Randall Packer has indeed expanded my eyes to the potential of open source network have to individuals. To me, one open source platform that I utilize very much as a creative is Pinterest and Vimeo. Imagine the amount of inspiration one could receive – should everyone share their works and ideas openly on these platforms.

On the other side of the coin, is it possible to build a safe, buzzing and like-minded community where we all can share freely? For even should we not be driven by monetary gains to share the ongoings of our creative minds, we might have a different motivation to do so. Take for example Wikipedia again, where “Wiki wars” do actually happen due to different personal agendas individuals posses.

Art is social

Perhaps should we acknowledge that the act of creation is indeed a social act (further explained below), maybe we would be more open to the concept of an Open Source Studio. And who knows what new, crazy ideas would be developed from there.

 

 

 

Art is a social act: It is very likely that we draw inspiration and ideas from somewhere, something, or from someone. Our own minds by itself, is moulded by people and we also learn from people. From the beginning of time, art itself was created by the entire community (think of Ang Kor Wat or the Pyramid), and was meant to be utilised for the community.