Can a sense of connectivity be found in non-places through the use of social media platforms, such as Facebook messenger, or does this phenomena reinforce the lack of identity and disjointedness associated with non-places?
Non-places are often characterized by their temporality and a lack of identity. However, the unfriendly nature of metro-cars (or other physical non-space) encourages individuals to negotiate these levels of transcience by entering digital non-places, such as social media platforms. The contrast between the hostile and depersonalized metro infrastructure and the connectivity of online messaging applications, such as Facebook messenger, creates a disjointed sense of space in which comfort and anti-sociality temporarily coexist. Our interactive installation recreates the experience of being in a metro car amidst these two realities by integrating the viewer into the cold disjointed atmospheric projection of the metro on a backdrop of an embroidered curtain. In addition, the interactive experience of being forced to walk through the lines and use the lines to make a choice in direction echoes this hostile atmosphere, well giving participants autonomy to move within its rigid structure. Furthermore, the relationship between metro cars and online platforms is interrogated through our use of varying storylines in our project, all of which demonstrate the diversity of lived experiences within social media usage in metro cars. An Ephemeral Refuge in a Hostile Place explores the complex relationship between physical and digital non-spaces demonstrated in the usage of social media as a mediator in the metro context through its possibilities for distant loving connection across space and distance.
Lexi Mott: Scriptwriter, Aesthetic Designer
Samy Isse: Scriptwriter, Technical Director
Aloh Vera: Scriptwriter, Aesthetic Designer, Video Editor