Below is my first dissertation proposal i wrote as part of our critical and cultural studies in May 2007. It's a bit of a rant but you get the gist.
TO WHAT EXTENT HAS GLOBAL CAPITALISM SUPPORTED/CONFIRMED BAUDRILLARDS THEORY OF SIMULACRA AND SIMULATION? HOW MUCH RESPONSIBILITY SHOULD THE MEDIA ACCEPT IN THE CREATION OF MEANING?
In our current world of hyper-reality, if the real no longer exists, are we (as a New Media society) living a lie? When direct meaning has been replaced by signs, codes, metaphors etc how do we define the real? It's almost as if we have to frequently prove and reaffirm our existence with imagery, photographs and short films of family and friends and the great times we all shared. Now these can constantly be displayed on Web 2.0 sites such as FaceBook. We can regularly upload documentation of our memories and exhibit them to the entire online community. Rather than simply living we must record our existence to repeatedly remind ourselves and others that we are in fact, alive.
Postmodernism has perverted basic reality. Existentialism is dead. Commercial advertising and communication media now dictate reality with hyper-mediation. We are no longer free agents, we have become walking, talking billboards. Individualism is impossible, our responsibility is not to ourselves, but to TopShop and H&M. Human existence is not defined by personal experience but by which stereotype we best fit. We are categorised and regergitated into another commodity. In a recent Argus i had a look through the personal ads, one read as such. "Arctic Monkey loving Vegan female looking for a non-smoking mid-twenties male to share world-cinema and soya milk with." Is pigeon-holing people now completely inescapable?
In an authentic-fake world how do we distinguish the real? If there's no need to refer to an original but just reproductions and representations of the real, then what is really true and what is false? And more importantly, how do we define true and false in contemporary society? The simulated copy has superseded the original object by the signs of its existence rather than its actual physical presence. How can we trust copies? Are we the donkey, instinctively following the digital carrot of invented meaning, dangled before our eyes by the all powerful Media?
Adverts and design in general manipulate meaning and mold the publics perception of the world. Traditional moral values are brought under the microscope by contemporary media. Ethics are being reshaped by modern technology. In a hyper-real society people no longer have to think for themselves, their opinions are governed by headlines.
Much of modern design and architecture is illogical. Should not every new Postmodern apartment block have solar panel roofs? New media isn't just working in conflict with the natural environment, it's striving to provide an alternative hyper-real environment - virtual reality.
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