Self VS Digital Self
Thesis show completing my MFA degree from the Integrated Visual Arts graduate program at Iowa State University in the fall of 2016.
Reliable Street, an artist collective in Ames, Iowa, provided an excellent space for the installation of this multidimensional art/data experience. Being in the midwest and showing in November, the old structure had no heat and created a chilling but fitting feel to the environment, while echoing the cold nature of the subject matter.
Two years of work and research into identity in the digital age has resulted in an artistic body of work that compares the digital panopticon we experience today, with the the panopticon prison structures of the past, seen as a symbol of controlled confinement. An invasive digital presence consumes our time and lives, this research aims to open the discussion not only on our digital identity and how we use social media, but the increasing synthesis of tech with life/culture and what impacts that has on our social environments.
The series looks to three profiles an individual experiences, the physical identity (seen in an intaglio print), the digital identity(seen with projected Facebook profile images), and the profile assumed based on age location and interactions with society (seen with junk mail that has been sent to each individual). Six subjects, participated in this study and are represented through a three print series per each subject.
Installing the work so that the 30" x 22" prints can hang away from the wall allows both sides of the paper to be used. The backside of the print series has transferred junk mail and viewers are encouraged to observe the work from all sides. The projected profile images onto the hanging prints are mapped so they illuminate only the prints, however, when a viewer walks past the hanging work, the prints move. This subtle shift in the work allows for the projected content to cascade and illuminate the outer space. The projectors are also installed at waist height so that people may obscure the projected content, again indicating the impact people have on one another.
