NETWORK PEOPLE 2020–2026

⌜NETWORK PEOPLE⌟ addresses the conditions under which individuals can claim agency on social media platforms. I focused on YouTube and Instagram, where countless individuals construct self-narratives through videos and images. In these spaces, an individual’s self-narrative can take shape only through the platform’s protocols. Protocol refers to the platform’s mode of operation, made up of metrics, mechanisms, and algorithms such as views, followers, likes, comments, subscriptions, notifications, and recommendations. On the platform, individuals can claim agency and construct self-narratives, but this is always conditional. ⌜NETWORK PEOPLE⌟ consists of the works 〈YOUTUBE PEOPLE〉, 〈INSTAGRAM PEOPLE〉, 〈SOCIAL NETWORK PEOPLE〉, 〈YOUTUBE PEOPLE STORY〉, and 〈COMMUNICATION CHRONICLE〉. The first three are photographic works, and the latter two are book works.

To show the process by which individuals construct their self-narratives, I inscribed the model’s agency in the photographic image. Before the shoot, through a preliminary interview, I determined the location, concept, and staging that could best present the model’s activities and appearance. On site, I took sample photographs and listened once again to the model’s opinions on the finer details of the image. The photographs were made in the form of self-portraits, with the model pressing the shutter directly at the moment they chose. I also combined color, black-and-white, positive, and negative films in the darkroom into a single frame and then photographed it. The viewer cannot grasp the photograph all at once, and is led to look again. Through repeated viewing, I hoped that surface and reverse, choice and condition, would be revealed together.

I exhibit the original photographic film itself in light boxes. Film is a material that bears traces, defects, and vulnerability. I reveal it as it is, without correcting or erasing it. The viewer comes face to face with a single trace left by an individual’s choice.