Concept / Reflection Statement
The core intention of our group publication was to provide a snapshot of another cultural context, an alternate future with its own traditions and systems. With this intention we hoped to construct a sense of confusion when viewing the work from our own context, warping familiar elements as well as creating completely new ones. This was done through the lens of an increased or differing globalization experience, creating a new cultural homogony, as well as increases in technological systems in aiding the human sensory experience, integrated to the point that could be seen as a beginning of the Post-Human. Although many of the intentions in this work seek to be free of our current context, we also recognised that its influence was irremovable, and as a resulted, responded to current social and political issues surrounding digital freedoms within our work such as copyright and censorship.
Much of the progression of this work coincided with group research and collaborative information sharing. Starting from a very wide pool of information and artworks, we undertook a process of convergent and divergent information gathering. From basic concepts and works around Futurism, Punk Zine culture, Internet imagery, Post-humanism, Afro-futurism and non-liner approaches, we were able to discover a sense of cohesion and proceed with developing the publication. Any problems we experienced in terms of technical (GIFS not working) or theoretical (linking our theme to a certain design) production were overcome in a similar way, with additional advice from Anna and and internet forums. Although we worked together on the majority of the publication we allocated separate areas of work specific to our group members experience and interests. Jacob and Ryley dealt with the majority of the digital aspects of the work, Jacob dealt with the creation of much of 3D objects and layout. Conversely Harrison and Ryley focused on much of the theoretical development and research. The majority of our experimentation occurred around a few specific mediums. We developed phony legislation as a political backdrop for the cultural works presented in our publication. This required lengthy experimentation with layout and word choice. The interactive elements (a very necessary aspect so as to communicate the technologically enriched communication experience) although relatively simple in their theoretical basis, required a large amount of technical experimentation and iterations. Furthermore, the globalized sound and visual works present within the publication underwent quite a few iterations to most clearly communicate our intention. Examples of all of these can be viewed on our respective Tumblrâs.
Our group approach to the work was to treat it as a collective publication of our works but also as an artwork in itself, both reflecting the overarching theme of the work. The overall âVaporwareâ aesthetic was chosen for this reason. It provided an engaging way with which we could engage an audience with retro-futuristic ideas and provided a level of abstraction with which we could present our intentionally confusing and alienating work. Furthermore, it provided a direct link to current themes such as copyright issues (we presented found works along with our own, an inherent aspect of internet age aesthetics and culture) as well as provided a platform for the more futuristic media. The heaviest influences on our publication were Stelarcâs body of work, particularly âMuscle Machineâ, the âDeclaration Of The Independence Of Cyberspaceâ by John Perry Barlow and the website âmy body is browser friendlyâ at <http://cagoleapaillettes.com/~bbgirl18.html>. The Afrofuturist movement as a whole, particular the works of musicians such as Sun Ra, as well as inspirations in visual culture such as Blade Runner and Cowboy Bebop were also hugely influential in our publications construction.
http://stelarc.org/?catID=20231Â
http://cagoleapaillettes.com/~bbgirl18.html
John Perry Barlow. A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace, February 8, 1996. Retrieved October 20, from Electronic Frontiers Foundation, <https://projects.eff.org/~barlow/Declaration-Final.html>Â
Yaszek, L (2006). Afrofuturism, science fiction, and the history of the future. Socialism & Democracy. Vol. 20, no. 3, pp 41-60.
