"tell me i'm real" from the alone // shopping in the virtual plaza exhibition
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a l o n e // s h o p p i n g i n t h e v i r t u a l p l a z a
final degree project
this project explores and dissects the vaporwave art movement that is part of the internet culture which was originated on the net during the first half of the 2010s. this movement is characterised by creating a nostalgic perception of an idealistic version of a perfectly rendered past to such an extent that it distorts the reality while criticising the hyper-consumerist society we now live in.
the objective of this project is to create an aesthetic guide or manifesto that pinpoints what is part of the vaporwave aesthetic and what is not since it has been mixed with other internet subcultures. this manual can then be used as a cheat sheet on how to create vaporwave pieces mixing and matching two or more concepts. another main objective of this project is breaking the barrier of vaporwave between the internet and the physical space, evaluating if real-world objects that have been combined or modified can give the same effect than their virtual versions. as a result of all this research, the project ended with an exhibition of 13 pieces that were born from combinations of concepts taken from the previously developed aesthetic manifesto.
data was recollected at the exhibition and then analysed to confirm if the real world vaporwave art pieces conveyed the same emotions as their digital counterparts. the exhibition “alone // shopping in the virtual plaza” merges the hatred and appreciation towards western consumerism, escapism from the real world and western routines, outdated technology and objects that exist just for their a e s t h e t i c value that would be impossible in any other context out of the internet.
the collection includes 13 pieces that represent two or more key elements taken from the style guide curated by me, produced and presented in such a way that what the visitor is seeing is somewhere between being in the presence of an illusion that usually belongs inside a screen and mix-matched retro-futuristic nonsense. the aim of this exhibition is to bring vaporwave back from the realm of the dead and to materialise vaporwave aesthetics by means of a dissection of its parts. this exhibition has the purpose of taking my investigation one step further into discovering the limits of vaporwave art between the virtual and the real world. a collection that tangibilizes vaporwave, all hand-assembled but 100% internet inspired.
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watch the following introductory video and then read the whole project below.
read whole project: here