Phase 4 Process

Okay, I have decided to do the exquisite corpse (image based) for my phase 4. The image that I chose to work with is an image of the Hong Kong Disney Land that is lighted at night. I chose this image because it is the classical example of Jean Baudrillard's term simulacra, which is defined as follows: the key piece is that where images used to refer to something outside themselves, we have now moved into an era in which images seem to refer to things outside themselves but are in fact devoid of any reference — that is, they are simulacra, things which bear no relation to reality, so that there is no “re-presentation” because there is nothing which is “present” in the first place to be presented again (”re-”) in the second. “Simulacra” (plural of simulacrum) seems to refer to individual instances of the phenomenon, whereas “simulation” seems to refer to the whole system.

Disney land is a perfect example of simulacra because it refers to itself, which does not have a solid foundation. It is a completely made up thing with thoughts and ideas.

What I did for my phase 4 so far is that I have printed the image on a piece of paper and passed it around to my classmates not just in the facs class to make any changes to it providing them with a box full of materials such as paint, pastels, pencil crayons, and magazine/scissors. I want to complete the first 5 transformations in hard copy, then transfer the image digitally and ask people to make changes to it there. This allows for a wide range of changes that can be made. This process relates to how art can exist between the boundary of physicality and technology. At the end, although the image would be transformed, it in itself remains the same because it refers to only itself and nothing else.

Source: http://thebookman.wordpress.com/2008/03/01/postmodern-terms-saccade-to-typological-study/