“Drama Bombs!” presented by Dolinko
Video still from Fig Leaf Rag, 2015 © Jamie Dolinko
Symposium:
Session Title:
- Digital Identity, Surveillance, Cyberactivism
Presentation Title:
- Drama Bombs!
Presenter(s):
Venue(s):
Abstract:
“Fig Leaf Rag” is a 3 minute 30 second video derived from the DRAMA BOMBS! project, an inquiry that turns a critical eye toward the anonymous statements we make with impunity online. Drawn from mainstream media comment sections, images are screen-grabbed and then recomposed in a slideshow format with attendant soundtrack, creating an entirely different dialogue. These statements, re-contexualized into a new artificial conversation, present a humorous, scathing, and insightful look into inhibitions, identity, and non-verbal communication.
DRAMA BOMBS! considers how language and common discourse are defined in today’s culture of literary road-rage, where the online author is protected behind a windshield of anonymity and nothing is considered off limits. It’s an arena of avatars, nicknames, and personas, where anonymous commenters are unleashed with little oversight or accountability, except as judged by an invisible moderator. What is the literary or social impact of this new technology on language and discourse, and how is this new media affecting how we communicate with each other? How is authorship, authenticity, or originality determined or ascribed in a realm where identity is fluid, and traditional forms of recognition are no longer viable?
A preliminary version of “Fig Leaf Rag” from the DRAMA BOMBS! project was screened in July, 2015 at the Vancouver Art Gallery in British Columbia, Canada at David Wisdom’s Legendary Summer Slide Show, and inclusion in the program at ISEA2016 Hong Kong would constitute its formal international premiere. This work is entirely self-produced and financed.
