On the Embodying and the Disembodying of Identity, 2017
Mixed Media Installation
How does our digital life affect our physical life? These were some of the questions we have asked ourselves during our investigation of the subject of Identity. We were interested in exploring the relationship between the embodied identity and the disembodied digital identity. We wanted to represent how the identity in post digital age emerges as an interplay of the two realms.
As part of our project we have created a website, an alternative to social media platform, where people are asked a question about how categories relating to their social, racial, religious or educational backgrounds define identity. By asking people to respond to this question with an image and caption we wanted to encourage more abstract, poetic and reflective responses.
Collected data was then re-represented as part of an audio-visual installation designed for a gallery space. The installation consists of a negative mould of a face casted in silicone, a TV screen, a video piece and a sound piece. The video piece consists of a slideshow of photographs collected through the website and a video recording of the sculpture positioned in the space. The sound layer consists of a voice machine narrating a script created from captions collected from the website. The silicone sculpture through its material properties alludes to the physical aspect of the body.
Through our project we aim to facilitate a collective representation of how others embody their digital identities. By layering collected data onto an object we were reconsidering how our digital life affects our physical life.
Silicone workshop: Guilia Brancati
Installation: Lena Dobrowolska, Myung Jun Lee, Sofia Morilano
Website construction: Myung Jun Lee