Over the break, I took notes from the symposium feedback and Q&A session. A few main questions came up:
- How do you plan to continue this work forward?
- How might it have a life beyond this presentation?
- How do you explore collection information from others?
Emoji Drawings
And so, I started a few different approaches to collecting information, translating and communicating it with others. I worked on “internet language”/“colloquial language” —> in this case, emoji and text language. In December 2020, I asked people on Instagram stories to send me emojis without textual explanations. I drew them with my interpretation of the message plus imagination.
This approach was unfamiliar. There were lots of mystery between the sender, me and the message, which was super interesting. Most of the times, I guessed who they are, what they are doing. It is almost like a one-sided conversation, or confession. It opens up new things to draw/imagine. I had to think of “story” using these emoji elements and compose a properly-completely-different story in these drawings.
“Send me emoji(s)” seemed very broad. I wanted to know how different it is to work with a more specific question –> “How’s your day?”
This time I felt a slightly different “vibe”. Since the answers were directed to a more specific question, the emoji messages seemed to be more static. They were more predictable, so as the drawings. I wonder what would be happen if I ask people to write me a much longer letter. But would it lose the immediacy of a text?
Lefthand Drawings
During the break, I also started drawing with my lefthand. I picked the quotes and poems that I collected over time and made drawings with my unfamiliar hand. It was very slow. I lost much control and preciseness in comparison to using my right hand.
How can I lie to you now thread my voice with lies of lightness force within my mirror eyes the cold disguise of sad and wise decisions - Maya Angelou