An essay by Sarah Julie Ege HøilundToday, as the realms of 3D and AR present us with beguiling immersive worlds, the boundaries between IRL and digital are increasingly blurring. Popular culture has been quick to spot and seize the opportunity to create iconic moments like Travis Scott’s lockdown concert staged in the 3D world of Battle Royale video game Fortnite with over 12 million viewers following along, far surpassing the capacity of any physical venue. In the world of fashion, Italian brand GCDS responded to a COVID-19 challenged Milan Fashion Week this September with the first-ever Digital Fashion Arcade, a 360 virtual world where the digital clothes were shown on a digital runway, worn by digital models. Infiltrating the real world without even existing in it and with almost 3 million Instagram followers the hyper real CGI model Lil Miquela has set a new standard for the level of influence digital humans can have. By now, a whole generation of Snapchat and Instagram users have also become accustomed to face-altering digital filters that allow for anything between a simple skin smoothing to a full transformation into an otherworldly avatar. As digital humans and augmented filters are quickly becoming an increasingly bigger part of our lives across social media, commerce and general daily life, the question of representation and where it’s headed should be asked.FANGIRL LFW Digital presentation by Institute Of Digital Fashion. Courtesy of Institute Of Digital Fashion and Digi-Gxl
We live in a technological landscape of visual excess, where on social media, in particular, identities are asserted, tested and questioned daily accommodating a constant exchange and projection of ideals. Building on a long legacy of visual culture the conversation around representation, from the male gaze to underrepresented minorities, has also broken new ground on the social platforms, giving access and freedom of expression to a whole new and diverse set of users.Harriet Davey wearing own face filter, image courtes of Harriet Davey
Seen in this light, one would think that progressive technologies like 3D and AR would be representative of the progress made before it. However, an Instagram post from November 2019 by British digital designer and new media artist Harriet Davey suggested otherwise as she voiced her frustration with how the male gaze is reproduced in 3D software presets, often created by men, making it difficult for users like herself to move…
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Source: vogue.it
Where is Representation Going?
