Concept statement:“What am I doing with my life?”
Procrastinate
prə(ʊ)ˈkrastɪneɪt/
verb
delay or postpone action; put off doing something.
“the temptation will be to procrastinate until the power struggle plays itself out”
synonyms: dithering, delaying tactics, dilatoriness, stalling, temporising, hesitation, vacillation;
“Recent models of procrastination due to self-control problems assume that a procrastinator considers just one option and is unaware of her self-control problems. …A person chooses from a menu of options and is partially aware of [their] self-control problems. This menu model replicates earlier results and generates new ones. A person might forgo completing an attractive option because [their] plans to complete a more attractive but never-to-be-completed option. Hence, providing a non procrastinator additional options can induce procrastination, and a person may procrastinate worse pursuing important goals than unimportant ones.”
“CHOICE AND PROCRASTINATION” (T. O’Donoghue & M. Rabin, 2001)
The majority of students, when presented with important tasks and assignments, very seldom aim to complete set work as soon as they receive it. Only a few students are inspired and stimulated to complete it within a timely manner. The majority allow themselves to be distracted and procrastinate until the deadline closes in; then they’re stressing and frantically rushing to finish it but it’s never to the best of their ability. Many students, myself included then think “Never again! The stress is too much!” However, very few actually put this into practice. A passive habit has formed. The “Never again!” thought has become the final stage of a vicious recurring cycle.
As this cycle repeats with every project I am given, it raises a few personal questions which ironically dictates my next move: Am I motivated by procrastination or procrastination is a desire I unintentionally want? Does postponing habits mean that I’m masochistic? Or do I simply desire to procrastinate for the sake of it?
My project is a video artwork that examines the cycle of completing a task from the perspective of a 21st century student. It aims to replicate procrastination habits of the young in the digital age and emulates the fugue state created from total immersion into the virtual. My work mirrors the desire to escape from reality and reside in the virtual.
The internet is both a blessing and a curse; it has all the information we need from just a few clicks away, but it is also a blackhole of clickbait, triviality and really strange kinks. The sites we browse through procrastination are the worst: they’re offer nothing that intellectually stimulates, emotionally disposable and only aim to entertain you for a limited time. These sites can be likened to fast food: we know they are bad for us physically and mentally but we can’t seem to stop consuming. They’re as addictive as heroin. What’s more, we don’t even realise how long we’re spending on such sites.
Process:
Admittedly, I had no idea where to begin with this particular project, I was very lost in what to do. I started with google: to research for ideas. However, the more time I spent online, the more I spent perusing through trivial unfulfilling websites. All in all, I accomplished nothing except wasting time.
After about three days of solid procrastination, I asked myself: what am I doing with my life?
This generated my interest in the topic of procrastination. I wanted my project to be from a realistic perspective from a student, so I experimented with screen recordings on my laptop. I recorded my screen whilst I perused through literally hours of web content. At the end, I was emotionally exhausted, intellectually unsatisfied and bored. Yet, during the experience, I was only focused on reacting to what was in front of me. Hours slipped past me like minutes, I only stopped recording my screen when I ran out of new links/content to click on. In my video art, I attempt to recreate the ‘high’ experienced when procrastinating on the internet. My screen recordings are clipped, sped up and placed closely together. When all played at the same time, this can create a synaesthesia effect and greatly perturb the viewer. It is an example of art imitating life. A hyperreal piece in the sense that we are unable to distinguish which reality from which.
Bibliography:
J. Exline, J., 2015. Looking for an Escape? The Impulse to Run Away from It All. [online] Psychology Today. Available at: <https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/light-and-shadow/201306/looking-escape-the-impulse-run-away-it-all>
Mamatas, N., 2009. Escapism. Nature, 461(7266), pp.1018-1018.
O'Donoghue, T. and Rabin, M., 2001. Choice and Procrastination. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 116(1), pp.121-160.