Overview:My work focuses on studying the implications of technology on our modes of communication. Specifically, I’m interested in the ways in which virtual communities are shrinking the world and speeding up our ability to exchange information and connect with each other, but doing so using a method that simultaneously distances us physically. By exploring these ideas through physical or analog means, I hope to be able to expose the underlying systems that create this disconnect and explore both the positive and negative traits of these forms of dialogue. I expect this will involve explorations in multiple mediums – object-based work, installation, and social engagement.
Issues of Concern:Materiality: How are the materials I’m using contributing to the concepts I’m working with. What are the implications of using wood (specifically plywood)? How can I create further layers of meaning in the work?
Analog vs. Digital: What happens when we flip things back from digital to analog and expose the hidden framework? If we see the exposed systems, does it change the way we view those systems when they’re hidden?
Virtual Communities: How does the Internet change our idea of community and communication? Are we isolated and fragmented despite our greater speed of communication and connectivity? Are these false comforts, a façade of a community rather than an actual one? What role does nostalgia play? If everything is turned into a game, do we become desensitized to the content?
The Public Sphere: Is the Internet a revived form of the public sphere? How do we distinguish between public and private if virtual text is replacing face-to-face talk – how is this different from the previously private letters? What does it mean if public images replace public space?
Is it possible to define the Internet or today’s societal structure using these linear forms of thought? Do we instead need to find a multiplicitous model that allows for the continually changing information and forms of communication?
