heightened realism, animators usually find themselves creating, on the one hand, realistic or lifelike ‘humanoids’ which are at the same time paradoxically ‘un-human’ and disturbing.
This has led to the term ‘uncanny valley’, the chasm between the attempt at a realistic human robotic or animated representation and the sense of repulsion or unease they evoke (Cherry 2020).
If the uncanny by definition also includes the mysterious and unexplained, this can also relate to many videos of paranormal, mysterious, other-worldly appearances and occurrences in photos or video footage uploaded onto social media platforms. These include the presence or appearance of strange or even invisible beings, unexplained events, and the possible warping of time. These introduce questions of the nature of reality and the Newtonian concept of space and time as linear. They present the possibility of parallel universes and the quantum concept of entanglement, which lie outside the scope of this particular PLR project.
Social media platforms certainly introduce great complexity and overlap between private and public and vastly expand on and problematize the invisible layers between the two. The theorizing and visualizing of invisible layers are an important aspect of discussion as it relates directly to my artistic practice.
In terms of a form of signage for the navigating between a known and an unknown space, Turner adopts the term “chijikijilu” from the Ndembu, a tribe in central southern Africa who have been studied closely, particularly in regard to rituals. Turner describes them as a people
‘aware of the expressive or symbolic function of ritual elements’. “chijikijilu” signifies a
‘beacon’ or ‘landmark’ for connecting known places and unknown spaces in order to help hunters find their way back home (Turner 1969: 15). They can "blaze a trail" into the unknown by, for example, slashing marks onto trees or breaking branches, which later help them navigate their return journey. These beacons also serve to metaphorically connect the world of sensory perception and knowledge, structure and order to the unstructured, chaotic and invisible realm or world of shadow and the unknown.
The process by which an individual’s communication and artwork can be shifted from a private environment to a public domain is described by Papacharissi (2010: 140) as a “mobile nomadic life”. This is made possible in a non-fixed, flexible way through digital and online media. The artwork in the form of an image passes through invisible layers to reveal the artist’s voice as the image of this artwork can communicate and form relationships between the artist and the public. These relationships can be understood in the same way as the symbiotic relationships found in the natural world. The artist/public relationship has the potential to be mutually beneficial (mutualism), beneficial to one side with no impact on the other (commensalism), or beneficial to one side and damaging to the other (parasitism) (Brenner 2018).
There is a set of standards tacitly considered when individuals upload images of their work and studios to social networks. For example, certain images of artworks may not be suitable to share, while other images may contain content too secretive to reveal. If these are not within the scope of what is considered professional, it can lead to the judgment that they are inappropriate. When an individual shares images or videos, they might consider how ‘image A’ is acceptable to upload, while ‘image B’ is inappropriate to share. Individuals have their own standards when weighing up the appropriateness of the content they put online. These standards are not explicitly visible in their images, but rather implicitly embodied within the
content itself. The selective filtering process of sharing private images in public spaces becomes the creation of an invisible layer.
The veil of digital image filters currently used in photo-editing software and on social media platforms can be likened to invisible layers. Previously, airbrushing and editing were used exclusively for professional models or celebrities, whose photos were altered and enhanced for publication. Now, however, anyone can edit their photos using any number of editing apps on their phones and present themselves or their artworks as looking significantly different online than they do in reality. This altered photo is enhanced with a digital veil, sharing information through a selectively permeable digital membrane. The extent of the digital veil or membrane applied influences the messaging and information within the image.
A transformation of the artist’s work can take place as a result of him/her opening up his/her practice to the invisible space of the Internet, beyond material physical space. When an
individual’s artistic creation moves into an open public space, the grey area through which the artist and the artwork move can affect the work. The work itself becomes re-considered and so transformed as it moves from a private studio space to a public space. Moving through these middle processes is likely to influence the work both positively and negatively.
and flyers. Living in our current hyper-connected Internet age, however, artists have greater power over the exhibiting, displaying and even marketing of their work, and are free to explore and live in the areas between the invisible space of the Internet and the physical space of the gallery and studio. By sharing his/her work directly with public social networks in an approach alternative to presenting work through galleries, the artist can feel the subtle changes that come from communicating directly with the public. Unlike when works are displayed in a traditional gallery, social networks receive immediate response and interaction from the public. Changes in creating arise through dialogue and engagement of the audience provided by these invisible layers and open windows in the relationship between an artist and the masses. The liminal and invisible spaces of the technological ‘cloud’ and cyberspace are topics too broad to focus on in this project. This includes discussion of the recreation of a virtual world based on the real world, which leads to the possibility of re-creating individuals.
This would provide a flexible invisible space for users with infinite creative possibility, and research on cyberspace in invisible space is ongoing. This cyberspace concept would also expand the discourse on identity.