This project contains three linked parts: tarot cards, narrative based installation with movie clips remix, and stamps designed for a fictional religion. The whole project was made to deconstruct the idea of “Discipline”. The first part was mean to decompose the idea of the discipline and all narratives written in the second part were based on the tarot cards. The third part was mean to encode the crtitcal thoughts in part 1 and 2.
Part 1 --- Tarot Cards: Power of Discipline
Mentioning power, what will you associate, the power of royalty, or the political authority? It seems that power is far away from our daily life. However, according to the French philosopher Michel Foucault, power is hiding in every corner in our life. In his book Discipline and Punish: the birth of the prison, Michel Foucault explained that the original cruel and bloody punishment has been replaced by prison regulations which are aiming at restriction and discipline, and how the organizational form and technical details of power developed behind this progression. How humans gradually accepted the regulation of society and became a part of it. Micro-power is not controlled or possessed by anyone. It works like a machine running autonomously. Knowing this, everything in our daily lives seems to be different. Therefore it could be interesting to deconstruct the power of discipline and analyze how the power of discipline is executed. By collecting the images that are related, morphemes that could describe different factors and aspects of the micro-power were collected. According to those morphemes, subjects that can be used to form up a deck of tarot cards were revealed. Finally, using those subjects, tarot cards were made to better communicate this topic with others and offer an opportunity for making their own interpretation
Image Collection
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Tarot Deck
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Part 2 --- Narrative Based Installation & Movie Remix
1. Narrative Construction using 6 randomly chosen tarot cards form part 1
How many times have I walked through this intersection? I asked myself. I took a look at the number on my wrist, and then, flashing back to the beginning of my memory, I started trying to figure out what happened to me today.
I left home early in the morning because there was a specific promotion provided only today. There was a mist outside on the street, making everything looks hazy. Walking on the road, I saw people smiled at me. They were all wearing masks, but I can read some kindness (or warning) in their eyes. I turned right at the intersection because I saw the sign telling me to do so and then left and then forward. Suddenly I went back to the original intersection or another similar corner. I took a note on my wrist, updating the number.
Maybe I won't get that promotion today because I never seem to reach the destiny. I then took a look at the number on my wrist.
How many times have I walked through this intersection? I asked myself. I took a look at the number on my wrist, and then, flashing back to the beginning of my memory, I started trying to figure out what happened to me today.
I left home early in the morning because there was a specific promotion provided only today. There was a mist outside on the street, making everything looks hazy. Walking on the road, I saw people smiled at me. They were all wearing masks, but I can read some kindness (or warning) in their eyes. I turned right at the intersection because I saw the sign telling me to do so and then left and then forward. Suddenly I went back to the original intersection or another similar corner. I took a note on my wrist, updating the number.
Maybe I won't get that promotion today because I never seem to reach the destiny. I then took a look at the number on my wrist.
2. According to the narrative, a movie clips remix was made to retell the story
3. Obstacles and Installations
Obstacles seem to be the limitation of one’s work though it is stimulating creativity. It challenges people to be creative with the restriction of a set of rules. However, the rules are not that rigid as we usually thought about. With so many unstable factors, such as unexpected accidents, they could be easily broken up by ourselves unconsciously. That’s the place where chance plays a role. For the third part, I chose to use a 3d pen to print out the final story scene, but it turned out that the leading figure is too large compared with other 3d printed objects. It looks more like a prison watchtower than a human figure, which reminds me of where I started—prison. Following the rules, especially the rules that are challenging to me makes the outcome unpredictable. Drawing in a 3d space is more challenging than on a piece of paper. One needs to deal with gravity, the chosen material, and also the size.
Moreover, to continue expressing the idea that discipline penetrates our daily life without being known, transparent acrylic is used. It becomes the basement of those objects and invisible restrictions. The spot to place each item is reserved in advance to restrict the movement of those figures, and the organization of those objects was determined by the story engraved on the basement. However, as I mentioned before, one may not execute every obstruction successfully because there could be some accidents. When making those objects, the acrylic basement still wasn’t ready. Not until the basement is finished I can know how the final outcome looks like.
Obstractions:
1. The original narrative needs to be translated (using google translate) into other languages sequentially and finally translated back to English, and the translated version needs to be compared with the original one to determine which part is lacking clarity.
2. Rewrite those parts that are not clear using specific definitions or descriptions.
3. Separate the narrative into segments based on the timeline and rewrite each segment as a single story(works like an epic).
4. The final outcome should be a combination of the written narrative and installation.
5. Each segment needs to be drawn by a 3d printer pen.（if this turns out not doable consider other materials）
Obstacles seem to be the limitation of one’s work though it is stimulating creativity. It challenges people to be creative with the restriction of a set of rules. However, the rules are not that rigid as we usually thought about. With so many unstable factors, such as unexpected accidents, they could be easily broken up by ourselves unconsciously. That’s the place where chance plays a role. For the third part, I chose to use a 3d pen to print out the final story scene, but it turned out that the leading figure is too large compared with other 3d printed objects. It looks more like a prison watchtower than a human figure, which reminds me of where I started—prison. Following the rules, especially the rules that are challenging to me makes the outcome unpredictable. Drawing in a 3d space is more challenging than on a piece of paper. One needs to deal with gravity, the chosen material, and also the size.
Moreover, to continue expressing the idea that discipline penetrates our daily life without being known, transparent acrylic is used. It becomes the basement of those objects and invisible restrictions. The spot to place each item is reserved in advance to restrict the movement of those figures, and the organization of those objects was determined by the story engraved on the basement. However, as I mentioned before, one may not execute every obstruction successfully because there could be some accidents. When making those objects, the acrylic basement still wasn’t ready. Not until the basement is finished I can know how the final outcome looks like.
Obstractions:
1. The original narrative needs to be translated (using google translate) into other languages sequentially and finally translated back to English, and the translated version needs to be compared with the original one to determine which part is lacking clarity.
2. Rewrite those parts that are not clear using specific definitions or descriptions.
3. Separate the narrative into segments based on the timeline and rewrite each segment as a single story(works like an epic).
4. The final outcome should be a combination of the written narrative and installation.
5. Each segment needs to be drawn by a 3d printer pen.（if this turns out not doable consider other materials）
“How many times have we met at this park today? I am interested.” The Sales Assistant asked the freelancer. They both looked at the number on their wrists. Flashing back to the beginning of their memory, they started to figure out what happened to them today. It was a foggy day, and they met at the park. “I got a job promotion, I’m the sales manager now, and I want to brag that to you as soon as possible.” said the Sales Assistant. “What a coincidence! I just received a lot of coupons from the supermarket, and I want you to know.” said the freelancer. “It’s so strange that everyone on the street is wearing a bird mask.” “Maybe today is the day you cos the plague doctor, just like no pants day, but I can still see their eyes showing some kindness or warning.” “Well, maybe. I got to go. I need to catch the next subway.” “Ok, the supermarket is also opening soon.” After saying goodbye to each other, they went in different directions. The freelancer followed the sign, turn right, then left, and then forward.
“How many times have we met at the subway station today? I am interested.” The freelancer asked the musician. They both looked at the number on their wrists. Flashing back to the beginning of their memory, they started to figure out what happened to them today. It was a foggy day, and they met at the subway. “I need to go to the park to make a performance. It’s a chance of promoting myself, but I’ve already updated the number on my wrist several times.” said the musician. “Me too. I just want to use the coupons at the supermarket.” said the freelancer. “It’s so strange that everyone on the street is wearing a bird mask.”“Yes, but I don’t understand. I can still see their eye showing some kindness or warning.” “Well, maybe. I got to go. I want to try again.” “Ok, I’ll also try to get to the supermarket.” After saying goodbye to each other, they went in different directions. The musician followed the sign, turn right, then left, and then forward.
“How many times have we met at this supermarket today? I am interested.” The musician asked the sales assistant. They both looked at the number on their wrists. Flashing back to the beginning of their memory, they started to figure out what happened to them today. It was a foggy day, and they met at the supermarket. “I got a job promotion, but I can’t get to the subway, and I got a big number on my wrist.” said the sales assistant. “Me too, I planned to give a performance at the park, but the number on my wrist is also getting larger.” said the musician. “It’s so strange that everyone on the street is wearing a bird mask. I think that means something.” “Yes, but I don’t understand. I can still see their eyes through the mask, showing some kindness or warning.” “Just like me, you may not be able to promote your self today, but you don’t have to do it today.” After saying goodbye to each other, they went in different directions. The sales assistant followed the sign, turn right, then left, and then forward.
Part 3 --- A fictional religion worshiping discipline
To show the idea that people are controlled and managed by discipline, in project 3, a religion that is worshiping discipline is fabricated. The most important ritual of this religion is then designed. Within this ritual, believers will use a stamp system to communicate with the god of discipline. Under the trinity this religion, stamps are separated into three main sets, representing guidance, management and protection. Within each set, there are four main characters shown and each character is composed of four single stamps. Each single stamp represents one element that is related to discipline. Believers will stamp those patterns on cards to record the moment when they feel discipline.
According to Michel Foucault, discipline controls four different types of individuality: cellular, organic, genetic and combinatory. This idea is shown in this stamp system. Each stamp represents one element included in discipline, the spread of combination can be changed and positions of stamps within the spread can be altered to tell different stories. People are managed by discipline in the same way. Regulated by discipline, people can fit into different systems as well as positions to produce different functions. It is not aiming for repression but for ensuring the system functions well.
