The two dialogues conducted during the position through dialogues brief provided two varying perspectives. On one side Franca Lopez Barbara, a graphic designer provided me with to-the-point feedback on the video and a plethora of references and ideas. On the other Sean Hayes, an MA student in psychology supplied me with scientific insight into the phenomenon that my essay and inquiry are trying to explore and some personal experiences.
Franca, who has been exploring nature, coloniality, gender and ethics, offered a fresh perspective to the essay and positions that could be explored moving forward. Although she criticised the video essay, highlighting the infographic structure as being generic and boring, she appreciated the work that led to the creation of the video itself.
From exploring the inner workings of an algorithm to uncovering the politics and racial biases surrounding it, many of Franca’s suggestions intersected with her design practice on gender and ethnicity. We also debated how social media is being used as a tool to target people unfairly through profiling and physiognomy. She highlights the closed feedback loop that exists between the user, the content creator and the algorithm. Her suggestions and references opened new venues that could be researched and probed using design. She mentioned the work of Pati Sayuri (Crisis Flag, 2020), a project in which he used mapping to visualise and map affection during the COVID-19 pandemic. Franca talked about the participatory nature of the project. These also gave me the idea of using similar techniques to further my critical inquiry research.
During last year’s assessment, Max Colson provided me with a list of books to read on the topic of technology and its effects. One of the books, The Shallows by Nicholas Carr (2011), discussed how the technology of any form, when used for a prolonged period, imparts a permanent and evolutionary change in the human mind on the neuron level. It led me to contact Sean Hayes, an MA in Psychology, who explored the effects of Social media on the human mind. He provided blanket feedback on the video, supporting some while rejecting other ideas mentioned in the essay. The dialogue led to a considerably different track, about not only the negative side but also the positive aspect of social media. He mentioned the tool as a boon in the way humans now communicate and cope with distances. He also recounts the result from the study in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health journal (2020), which highlighted the negative effects of extended use of the technology. Sean also cited some of his personal accounts of using social media, and how it has led to some, not-so-great experiences and habits. In retrospect, the projects and the outputs created during this brief, have always looked on the negative side. and this dialogue provided me with contrasting aspects to focus on.
These two dialogues have opened a plethora of paths to venture out on. And the only thing left, as Franca said is “to follow the thread and surrender to it”.
Barbera, F. L. (2022).
Hayes, S. (2022).
Sayuri, P. (2020) crisis flag. a color map of feelings in times of covid-19. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/p/B_ivN4HnSnC/?hl=en.
Carr, N. (2011) The shallows: What the internet is doing to our brains. New York, NY: WW Norton.
Lee J, Ahn J-S, Min S, Kim M-H (2020) “Psychological Characteristics and Addiction Propensity According to Content Type of Smartphone Use,” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(7). doi: 2292.