ART DIRECTION + CONCEPTION
Thesis work at Parsons
Year: 2021
Nowadays, the reckless exploitation of the user’s time by social media companies has become pervasive in society. These institutions manipulate as many users as possible into wasting as much time as possible on their sites in order to maximize their profits. ”Candy Shop: Getting Back What You Give” is an interactive installation communicating the lack of value social media companies accord to time we invest as humans on their platforms.
In order to represent the unfair exchange between the companies and the users, I have visualized the revenues generated from the individual user’s screen time, using small amounts (at times fragments) of candy, alongside large format illustrations of Mark Zuckerberg standing on candy mountains, representing the overall superfluous daily revenues he makes from Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Candies operate as a metaphor for social media’s toxic allure, whilst also symbolizing the user’s happiness stolen away by the companies.
In the exhibition space, the visitors who wish to know how much their screen time is undervalued are encouraged to scan a QR code leading them to a conversion platform converting their time into candy.
Link to platform (smartphone preview) / Link to platform (computer preview)
The artpiece included a candy cutting session where visitors would get their screen time represented in candy bags.
