Session 6a: Changing Identities in Cyberspace
5th Global Conference
Friday 12th March – Sunday 14th March 2010
Salzburg, Austria
Cloakroom Communities and the Cyberspace: Towards a Concept of ‘Pseudo-Environmental’ Niche
Jernej Prodnik
Social Communication Research Centre, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Debates about contemporary virtual communities and identities most of the time revolve around concepts as disintegration, increase of individualization, spread of cinism, alienation and the likes. Authors that base their theories primarily on the new technologies and media often tend to point at the social isolation of the individual and other peculiarities of new technologies which presumably lead towards increase in individualization and furthermore have long-term devastating influences on what is traditionally thought of as community. Such pessimistic outlooks about consequences of new technologies on interpersonal face-to-face interaction are overlooking too many other aspects of social life and are most of the time subject to serious criticism about their (technological etc.) determinism.
One of the main purposes of this paper is to move beyond these binar (distopian or utopian) considerations and present a wider outlook on new technologies and especially of other influences on contemporary identities and communities (e.g. changes in production, contemporary capitalism and consumerism). I elaborate this through imagined communities of Benedict Anderson and in particular through Zygmunt Bauman’s work. He is one of the first authors to point out that most of the spaces built for consuming paradoxically lead towards isolated experience, even though they are collective per se. It is therefore urgent to ask ourselves whether the individualized instrumental networking (which mostly forms fragile communities and offers several optional and changeable identities) on the internet is really a change in itself or only a symptom of other vast social changes in the late capitalism? Is this only a radicalization in development of these processes?
Applying concepts as liquid modernity, cloakroom communities or unstable identities on the cyberspace only helps us explain what are present social conditions, but hardly helps us with reflecting why did these changes occur. It is Paolo Virno’s theories of contemporary forms of life that offer us much needed background on these transitions. Firstly, with his interpretation of transition from Fordist production to immaterial work of the post-Fordist capitalism and secondly, through differentiation between the »world« of human beings and »environment« of animals. Because »world« is always indefinite, dangerous and full of uncertainties it is in human nature to seek and hide in pseudo-environments even when we are not aware of it.
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Identity Representations through Machinima Creation
Theodoros Thomas
National and Capodistrian University of Athens, Faculty of French Language and Literature, Greece
This paper investigates the identity formation through a narrative perspective. It examines the historically and culturally situated process through which identity and experience are negotiated, materialized and refashioned. The project of creating a Machinima film is connected to Giddens’ project of social and self identity creation.
Ricoeur and Carlo consider narrative as an identificatory practice par excellence. They claim that we perceive of our own identities in almost the same way as we do of the identity of characters in stories. Based on this assumption, we investigate the mediating role of Machinima, animated filmmaking within a real-time virtual 3-D environment, in the identity awareness of the subject. We study the representations produced by a group of students through the evaluation of the signifying practice of the creation of Machinima films they have created during a Cyberculture course (University of Athens French language and literature department).
The scope of this paper is not only cultural but also pedagogical, since the course within which the Machinima videos were produced was designed drawing upon the theory of project based learning, an approach via learners try to achieve a goal or complete a meaningful task. The use of Machinima is inscribed in this theoretical approach, taking into consideration the learners’ personality and knowledge in order to develop new media skills. Learning process is seen in the light of connectivism, a framework that actualizes existing learning theories with the needs and trends of the networked era.
Artistic Identity within Cyberspace: Issues go Global, Interdisciplinary Projects do Evolve
Bello Benischauer and Elisabeth Eitelberger
ART IN PROCESS, Fremantle, Australia
Involving a case study about ART IN PROCESS, a partnership based in Fremantle, Australia, who’s work is a critical engagement with a number of issues specific to Western, consumer culture and behaviour this paper addresses the growing inter-human and artistic communication through cyberspace.
How can artistic networks be built through Internet? How do they influence the artistic practice itself in their aim to reach the public on various levels? Another objective of the paper will talk about how social media as well as cyberspace itself can increase the transportation of artistic message and lead to transformed, extended and even enhanced work-conglomerations between artists and a wide international audience. This opens up for completely new forms of expression, extended varieties of working on participatory projects, linking artists from around the world. Virtually residencies do already exist. Calls can be made over platforms, only a mouse-click away from reaching the World Wide Web and its users.
Our intent is to instigate a change of thinking, a shifting of accommodated world conception within the viewer/participant, in continuously looking for an open dialogue with the public. We do this through Art-Interventions, Performances and partly online-exhibitions with audio-visual and mixed media installations and through platforms in cyberspace in the use of Social Media. Throughout the years we have started to grow cyber-work relations, i.e. currently with RAM Video in Philadelphia, ongoing networking with foam/Belgium or Sonance/Vienna as well as other individual and cyber-networking artists/institutions around the world.
The paper will focus on presenting running projects by ART IN PROCESS as well as a compilation of past work based on discussing, how online presence and virtual communities led to the creation of new work and could enhance their individual artistic profile in reaching out for another and wider audience.
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