I began this module having previously experimented with removing the core focus of digital elements in my work. Reflecting on this work and the work produced during level 5, I decided to return to a digital focus, seeking to define and justify my particular style of nostalgic looking web-based art. Along with this, I was keen to create a final work that encompassed the entirety my work at university, returning to ideas of alternative spaces and freedom-based nostalgia in relation to queer identity.

I began by experimenting with TouchDesigner, a real-time digital visualisation software, programming various generative visuals with the intention to present them as immersive projections. This experimentation led me to explore audio, learning the audio software BitWig in order to create ambient sounds, these sounds used samples of various digital ephemera such as ringtones and dial-up sounds as well as archived sample packs from the 1990s. The choice to create these sounds was heavily inspired by the work of Akira Yamaoka on the 2001 video game Silent Hill 2 wherein he used synthesizers to create the game’s soundtrack, providing an unnerving and foreboding yet nostalgic atmosphere. These were key themes I wanted to explore within my work; the seductive, nostalgic, and yet untrustworthy nature of the digital world. These sounds also served as input for the visualisation programs I created, ultimately existing within my installation as a projection influenced by this soundscape.

As the module continued, I shifted away from utilising TouchDesigner after a tutorial where I was asked to consider the possible worship of technology as opposed to creative practice inherent in relying on one software.

I reflected on my previous work and reincorporated elements of print, humour, and early web aesthetics present throughout my university career. I also further interrogated my core themes and ideas within my work through research and gallery visits.

Throughout my research, I felt particularly drawn to identity-focused works. Works by women, people of colour, and artists from underrepresented communities internationally spoke to me in a unique way. As a white man, though part of the trans community, I was keenly aware of my distance from the experiences these artists embodied in their practices and sought to understand this through the processes of making and researching.

It was through a visit to Tate Britain, where I saw the work of Delaine Le Bas as part of the Turner Prize, that I was able to connect my draw to these works with my own practice.

Le Bas’ work explores her Roma identity, culture, and heritage through a personal lens. She takes careful time and consideration to explore the wider implications of prescribed identity and stereotypes, stating “I’m only speaking on behalf of myself, not on behalf of a whole community”. This statement led me to reflect on my own work, knowing I aimed to confront and deconstruct rising prejudice, fearmongering, and media focus levelled against the trans community despite not wanting to act as a mouthpiece for a whole community, or a tokenised ‘trans artist’. In relation to Le Bas’ statement, I recognised that, though my work is identity related and, at times, focused, I aim to share my narrative as a member of an increasingly vilified community, not as a spokesperson for said community.

These notions of personal and individual identity linked back to web culture as I became increasingly interested in Olia Lialina’s One Terabyte of a Kilobyte Age, an archive of Geocities websites. When asked about the differences between the modern web and that of the 1990s and early 2000s, she identified the shifts in aesthetics between these eras as one of shifting ideologies, stating “There is no place for personal web, there are no ‘home pages’ anymore”.

This narrative helped me to recognise the aesthetic of my digital work as not pure nostalgia, but as a distinct signifier of personal identity within a commercialised digital landscape.

I found it difficult to find an audience and gauge audience reactions to my work within university, one element within this being issues with my crit group wherein I was primarily situated with painters and found myself explaining the technology itself as opposed to the ideas and motivations behind my work. Due to this, I exhibited my work outside of university, exhibiting my website as a projection with Nice1Mcr at Public in the Northern Quarter. This experience allowed me to see potentials for how my digital work could be presented and allowed me to lean into the possibility of presenting my websites a deconstructed installation.

I began construction on this installation, encountering many structural issues as I tried to build a tent-like structure. Through communication with my tutor and peers working with tension wire and hanging sculpture, I fixed these issues by creating a hanging structure, creating an installation of AV equipment and drapery, reflecting my early work at university where I primarily worked with fabric. I researched painterly techniques and composition for my final set up, wanting to include an element of advocacy for new media and lesser-known art mediums within a contemporary art contexts which often venerates painters as the truest form of artist.

During the installation process I encountered some last-minute issues with space, including a change of exhibition space during the install week. This required me to adapt to unexpected challenges such as access to wall sockets and needing the installation of tension wire in order to hang my work, I was able to overcome these with the help of peers, tutors, and members of the technical team whom I’d built relationships with over the course of this module through my use of CRT monitors and reaching out for support with them.

Overall, I am proud of my work during this module, having been able to synthesise the digital and installation-based elements of my practice into a coherent and visually effective installation.