NETWORK CULTURE

With Disneyland being one of the most visited places according to Instagram- it’s no wonder we are seeking out locations and places of recommendation that is seen on social media. Once in these places we are subjected to act differently, by taking selfies and photos without properly enjoying the space, as that’s what is expected and seen on social media 

Our concert of space and place has been drastically altered with the creation of this popular internet sensation. With the aim of encouraging fitness and exercise it quickly became a space where people tuned into screen and networks rater than their surroundings. By including real life environments, our perception has been altered and we now think of these ‘hotspots’ as something more. 

Recycled culture has become a slippery slope, a cycle we can’t break. Begging the question is that all our network culture is? Something we have recycled and will continue to do for eons? 

Are we too stuck in the past to fully move forward and created new culture, to explore the unknown and evolve? O r are we stuck in this endless cycle of revival? 

Highlights a side to us we want to portray to the world. Selfies and self portraits have become a way of self expressionism, a statement and a natural occurrence with little thought. 

“Networks are changing our sense of community, connection and citizenship; bio-technologies are rendering the precision design of life a reality, for better or for worse” The Calvert Journal (2015) 

Something we have taken for granted is the new Uber service, given little thought and appreciated for its low cost and connivence its hard to imagine what life was like before it was created. 

There are many different types of lists and how they can function, the new way of recording and deconstructing is seen above, the real question is how does this function in a network culture, as a reminder or way of cataloguing or something else entirely?

Lists have become a way of recording what has been, what is to come and how we can improve. 

Cataloguing and organising has become a way of routine and enforcing order. It has become a way of art, especially in relation to network cultures and technological advancement and movement.

Play on light and angles creates a whimsical almost nostalgic essence to this photograph. Vivian Maier has captured the individual’s soul in a photo, and begs us to question the afterlife of a photo and digital presence. It serves to remind society that we will live on through our network activity and digital snapshots.

“these digital artifacts are part of a growing personal collection that contains enough information to retell the stories of our lives” Carroll and Romano (2011) 

A self portrait. Vivian will remain in her truest form, self captured and self expressed. She will always remain in this photo, her essence belongs to the thousands of photos she captured during her life. These are the digital remains, whilst her body will lay in the ground her should will alway live on through the digital network

Banksy highlights and uses this to his advantage to showcase how space can become a canvas for opinion of struggle and modern day life (especially when it comes to social media expectations).

McLuhan comments on how society uses Media to extend ourselves. Represented here in the famous Oscar Selfie, it allows another dimension of ourselves to be added, for a deeper level of ourselves to be captured in a unique way and be shared through social media and technology. 

Taking pictures of America’s Great political leaders Obama and Biden using new angles and capturing their good sides. begs the question, is this the real Obama? Capturing the joy through a selfie rather than official photo or paparazzi means we are seeing a new side to him. 

A similar concept to that of Botechelli’s ‘Venus’ painting, the Queen of the 21st Century Beyoncè has used that as inspiration and adapted her own personality onto that of a famous painting. With the same stance, floral features and hair placement its a striking resemblance to Venus.