The Tension of Human Identity
Yukyeong Park
We want to fit in, to be socially accepted, but we also want to transcend, and be special, and unique. This tension has always existed and will continue to be within us. This thesis investigates human desires that are the driving motivations behind new representations of human identity. More specifically, it investigates communicated modes of identities that have been built by two essential pillars: transcendence and conformity. Finally, as a communication designer, I will create visual artifacts as a mediation to relieve the uneven tension of human desires with thought provoking and playful narratives.
The first project was to create two videos about visual, linguistic, and behavior codes. I extracted the communicative codes from two selected female music videos and two male music videos to reconstruct them as visual artifacts. By posting all these completed videos on my YouTube channel, I show how the reconstructed codes can spread again on the online platform. As a visual mediator, I also show a new visual language for critical approaches to existing communicative code.
The first video from the first project is about visual communicative codes and linguistic codes. I chose images that are repeated and emphasized in four selected music videos featuring 28 idols: “BLACKPINK, 뚜두뚜두”, “TWICE, TT”,”BTS, DNA” and “EXO, MONSTER”. Visual communicative codes consist of hair styles, makeup, outfits, body shapes and the use of certain colors. The audio in this project is from an auto-generated Text-to-Speech file. I consciously demonstrate the repetition of these codes, allowing viewers to reflect on the visual manifestations they have received through digital content..
The second video in the first project is about behavioral codes. I selected ten choreographies which are representative of female idols and male idols. I filmed myself mimicking choreography from selected music videos. This video comes with a few questions, which give views the opportunity to contemplate on the complication of these manifestations.