Description

Experimental Camera: Fragmentation of the Self
Code: https://editor.p5js.org/mlinhle617/sketches/e6jG4qgAK
Description: The camera is an experiment in using selfies to illustrate the fragmentation and disintegration of one’s identity when living in two vastly different cultures. Selfies are a mean of self-expression, but its effect on one’s identity and self-perception has always been controversial. On one hand, taking control of how we present ourselves to the world with selfies can be a source of empowerment. On the other hand, posting our selfies for the world to see can make us vulnerable to judgment and comparison, damaging our self-esteem. Because of this, I think selfies are suitable to use in a project about the self and identity. The subject that the camera is meant to capture is my own face. When I see myself through the camera, I see my image being mirror, and my face glitching and broken up into pieces, which illustrates how I perceive myself. Having grown up in Vietnam, I still have a deep connection to and heavily influenced by Vietnamese culture. However, having lived in the U.S. for the last 8 years have also made me feel immersed in American cultures and embraced American values, many of which are contradictory to my Vietnamese culture. Before I came here, I was sure of my identity as a Vietnamese person. Now, I feel like my identity is no longer one whole, but an unstable structure made up of many different pieces. The fish is an important symbol in my culture that represents drastic change and transformation of the self, so I decided to include it in here to drive the point home.

Design Process

I created three sketches for the camera, each has a different concept. The first one is inspired by Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Dyptich but with a twist to explore how our images on social media are an artificial construction instead of an authentic representation of our lives. The second one is about the fragmentation of one’s identity by breaking up the images into pieces that look like glass shards. The third one is a mirror that distort facial features to contradict beauty standards with a message that tells the user that they are loved and appreciated regardless of their appearance. I gravitated towards the second idea more because it’s more personal.

Originally my plan was to closely follow the design in my sketch. I start with trying to break the image into small pieces and applying a filter and a glitch effect to them. However, after doing all that I couldn’t find a way to turn the pieces into the shapes that I want. For the sake of time, I decided to change the design from the glass shards to overlapping rectangles.

Reflection

The process of seeing and being seen is an interesting one to experiment with in this project. I often feel like the image that I present to the world is very different from how I actually see myself. With this project, I really want to use codes to merge the two processes of seeing and being seen to produce a series of selfies that reflect my perception of my identity. The project really pushes me out of my comfort zone because there are a lot of moving pieces. I spent a lot of time watching tutorials from outside sources, trying to understand how face tracking works and how to use it in the sketch, as well as how to create filter and glitch. The resources posted on the CC website are very helpful and pointed me to the right direction, so I didn’t have to spend much time searching. This week’s concepts are a bit more complicated, so I needed more time to understand them. The assignment extension was a lifesaver because it gave me enough time to go through all the tutorials and resources that I need.