According to Ursula Endlicher, social media has robbed language of its physical meaning as gestures and actions. In interACTicons, Endlicher asks art fans and internet users to “act out” new visual meanings for the words that Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. have recast as a digital-only actions. The installation uses webcam stations to record interpretations of words like “join”, “follow”, “friend”, “comment”, and so on into interactive databases. The most popular actions, collected throughout the Transmediale festival in Berlin, were then choreographed into a final live performance. In the age of the emoticon, let’s not forget the value of hugs and handshakes.
This piece is so poignant – it’s made me think a lot about what it means to “like” something on Facebook or social networking tools. The thumbs up to a smart remark or funny video–I started to think about how different the emotion is than the online equivalent. When someone asks me “what do you like?” I talk about italian food and films and running. I don’t say cute animals and friends’ activities. Enlicher points out that it may be the same word, but the emotions and actions are totally different.
[...] several works that deal with technology and identity, but Walton’s work best relates to “interACTions”, where digital-only actions like “poking” or “friending” someone on social media sites [...]