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Simulations: society has become a layered simulation, where online and offline are no longer parallel states of existence. We present variations of ourselves between these states, depicting truth and untruth. Self design has become a creed, and social media the platform. Through an Instagram account ( @matilda_engelmark ) featuring a Sims 3 simulation, a series of layered images, videos, projections and choreography explore this relationship with self design and social media. From creating a simulated life to posting it onto social media, this sim is both an untruth and a truth whereby I try to upload myself into the world online, projecting myself into the simulation.  

Choreography: Izzy Newton 

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Using a projector to project myself into a simulation. 

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Making a sim on Sims 3.

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Living in an Unreal World - Adam Curtis for Vice

A short clip from HyperNormalisation

“You have become trapped in an echo chamber.”

Talks about truth and untruths of politics, social media and the real world. There’s this idea that what we know about our selves (our jobs and routines) are intact false layers, and our realities is as consumers. We are components in a system, we are no longer expressing ourselves or seeing reality. We are fixed in the world of media. We are so much part of the system that we cannot see beyond it, the fakeness has become hypernormal. 

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Conversing via simulation. 

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When your love of waste aesthetic feeds into your simulated life and you begin to question whether your sim is more you than you. 

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Way of Ozu - Koganda 

Really interesting perspective of Japanese life post war. Also very aesthetic video formatting.

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Surveillance

One of the key ideas that inspired this project was surveillance and hacking in modern society. Many would argue that the act of surveillance and suppression is no longer needed as society has become conditioned to perceive itself as constantly being watched; we no longer rely on surveillance, but depend on self censorship and self design. 

We progressively work to protect our freedom online, from censorship to surveillance, but in juxtaposition we ourselves expose ourselves online. We post pictures and politics, expectant to be and not be viewed and scrutinised. We live in parallels. 

Watched! Surveillance, Art and Photography - Verlag der Buchhandlung and Walther König

Hacking: Edition Digital Culture 2 - Christoph Merian Verlag

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Developing the storyline of my simulated life. 

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Presentation of the self in everyday life

Identity is not fixed. 

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*****self is not firm it changes constantly.

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Many. Using coding and facial recognition to create this effect. 

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Perhaps this will be our perception of reality. 

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Black Mirror Season 3 Episode 1 - Nosedive Featurette

I think many of the Black Mirror episodes touch on very real and even scary themes, however Nosedive seems the most tangible to my current project. Whilst much more outwardly criticising how we self design for the world, it shows a world not much different to our own. Criticism and ratings form our perceptions of a person as much as followers and likes. The value placed upon opinions has become an obsession, further illustrating this idea of self design as a creed. 

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Artheon VR Museum Trailer

Sothebys Masters of Surrealism: A 360° Virtual Reality Experience

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Crowd Sim 3 - John Robson