In response to this question I have created this looping animation.
When thinking of technological innovations and the creation of different media I believe that, as with all things moderation is key. A key factor of our online community today is the inclusion of anonymity, using an alias with which we can shield ourselves from the outside world whilst still impacting it.
This anonymity comes with negative traits, in that users can belittle or berate others without fear of reprisal. Often these people find pleasure in tormenting others in a way that would otherwise be clamped down upon, the “trolls” of the world. This has been an unfortunate circumstance with the rise of online interaction, the masking of their identity unmasking the ugly, potentially sadistic side of their personality, a flaw in their moral compass that the real world would have forced them to correct, else be shunned by society.
On the other hand there are some ways being anonymous online can be advantageous, to be able to try new things without judgement. Ask questions that have not been taught without fear of belittlement and to be included into cultures that would either be difficult to find or potentially exclusive.
There is a positive aspect to these new medias, as a tool they can allow a person to expand the reach of their business or persona. As a business, taking advantage of the viral nature of easily distributable media is a HUGE boon, a wonderful example of this is the teaching activity of taking a photo, sharing it on social media and asking people to share it whilst watching the mass of people it can reach.
My piece shows a user becoming flooded with information, slowly drowning in the overconsumption of these new medias that may narrow down our view of the world. These new media outlets can become the only perspective we look through and in turn see the world through their selected medias political lens.
This suffocating perspective is shown slowly engulfing the person, curled up and vulnerable within the pool of information. This pool can be left at any time by simply stepping outside, yet with hands over our own hands over our eyes and ears we cannot see the borders.
This pool includes the phrases “They're better”, “Be better”, in relation to the side of social media that crumbles away at a persons self worth. I myself have fallen victim to this very recently by comparing myself and my own works to that of another person. The posts that we see are the cherry picked high points of a persons life, or career, not something that we should compare our every day life to. Also within the pool is are the words “Hate this, Love this, Believe us”, stating the obvious persuasive attempts made by personalities and influential people that use this media as their weapon, former president Trump is a fine example of this pervasive and destructive effect of social media.
A final detail of this piece is our onlooker, taking a single cup with which to indulge in and observing the strange behaviour of our main character, baffled by their lack of action. I feel like a lot of this piece is on the nose metaphorically. In terms of colour and shape I really enjoy it, the perfect loop and clean logos having a satisfying completion to them.
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