I think there has been a big shift in my attitude towards the mobile phone. I used to think mobile phone is only a sort of electronic device, but it has gone way beyond its identity since the pandemic. I started to feel a sense of companionship with my phone, especially after going through the endless lockdown when it seemed to be the one and only channel for keeping in touch with friends and families. Therefore, I decided to take “Doing Mobile Media” this semester as I wanted to explore more about mobile media.
Throughout the whole semester, I think I have developed a series of skills related to mobile media practices. I was amazed by each of my classmate’s projects after attending the studio final presentation on week 12. Every single project has its own values towards society and I particularly liked two projects: the project “#ACTIVATEMELBOURNE” by Isabella and the vertical cinema installation by Campbell. Both projects fit in well with my project “InVisible” as we all aim to gather people for activating the post-pandemic city. However, I believe these two projects have different focuses on mobile media practices.
For the project “#ACTIVATEMELBOURNE”, I think Bella has developed it as a sort of mobile placemaking based on a specific location (Melbourne). She has found a sweet spot between the digital and real worlds by using hashtags to connect people. Once people crack the clue, every online participant can get special offers from a number of small businesses in Melbourne. The idea of placemaking enhances the vibrant city in terms of encouraging people to explore it again, which certainly boosts people’s confidence in a return to normal life.
For Campbell’s vertical cinema installation, I think he has manifested the importance of mobile performativity in terms of illustrating how vertical videos can be interpreted by people in different ways. I really like the idea that each video can be interpreted not only individually, but also can be combined and interpreted as a whole. This project highlights the presence of vertical video as it plays an undeniable role in most mobile social networking applications such as TikTok and Instagram. As people constantly participate in discussions about social issues like BLM on social media platforms, the performativity of content (vertical video) is the key to generating meaningful discussions.
During the past few days, I have been looking at exhibitions of other studios. I am really interested in the exhibition of “See Me: a collection of autobiographical work” by the studio “Autobiographical Media”. This project collects media works related to the theme of self (self identity, digital identity etc.) and it centres on the question of how can people represent themselves through media. Personally, even though I like taking photos with my phone, I am still not a big fan of documenting myself on a daily basis because it would be really unnatural when I face a camera. However, I have discovered the unique joy of self-representation through media by viewing some of the media works. I enjoy watching “Some Time I Keep Dreaming About” by Claudia as the use of archived footage from her childhood illustrates how precious childhood is. To be specific, in this gallery-ish way of self-representation, viewers can be resonated by the strong delivery of visual elements. The most impressive media work is the “LIVE” from one of my friends Lydia, it describes how she battled with depression. I was so shocked when I first looked at it because she never told me that she had suffered from mental problems. Even though we chat on Wechat regularly, I have no clue that her life went to the dark side for a while because everything she shared on social media is positive. From my perspective, without doubts, Wechat is considered a major “front stage” mobile application for most Chinese students, but self-representation can not be manifested truly in either chatting or moment-sharing. This reminds me of the deception of social media as people tend to share the best part of their life on social media and it comes to a really stressful question among many people: Why everyone else is having a better life than me? Lydia’s media work is attractive in terms of representing herself comprehensively. I admire her courage to embrace the dark side of her life and I am really glad to witness that she has come back strongly with outstanding creativity.
To conclude, this is a fantastic semester as I never thought my creativity can be boosted up to this level. As a third-year media student, I hope I can continue to work on mobile media practices for future careers.
