What is the truth about our world? When I looked at this week’s topic of tactical media and I read the description of what it is, that is the question that my mind boiled it down to. It may seem simple of course but really that what I took tactical media to be. Now I’m not going to take this on some crazy conspiracy theory rant, even though the NSA is looking at my blog post now (Hi Washington!), but the two artists and digital media producers Stephanie Rothenberg and Brooke Singer are bringing to life the truths that some people may not know.
All of the information that exists about us that is out there is astounding; I don’t think we have a full grasp on how much it really is. This is why I found the Swipe Bar concept from Singer particularly interesting. Patrons at the bar would order their drinks and then their receipt would show them all of the information that is contained within their drivers’ license. This type of project seems to be the hallmark of Singer, whose projects all revolve around the extending amount of technology and information that exists in the digital world for people.
Rothenberg was similar in raising awareness with her project The Secret of Eternal Levitation, which allowed users to make a “dream home” by extracting the resources from across the world showing what would actually go into creating the “ideal city”. I was also captured by the Invisible Threads project, which created a real world store and profits from the game second life, using people in the game as workers to create the product.
The first two projects I think are the core of tactical media, informing in subtle ways. Both of these projects had information that was important to share but instead of going about in traditional fashions they did it in a roundabout way that would better catch their audience’s attention. The Secret of Eternal Levitation gave the information in the fashion of a video game, allowing it’s viewer to play along and create their dream home, and Swipe out at a bar with friends or co-workers. Both would get their participants talking about the topic and were more likely to get the information to stick than if they would have gone about it in more traditional fashions. That is what we as digital media producers need to strive for, is to find a way to get our information to stick with our audience and to get them talking about it long after they have been exposed to it, and that may take using unconventional methods.
I think you hit on something that is very important about these artists. They produce works that engage people using familiar methods, but then deliver information that isn’t so familiar. Video games and going out to a bar are very routine activities for people, so why not meet them there and show them something different related to the experience? As you point out, that is exactly what they do. Tactical indeed!
Your call for digital media producers to strive for unconventional methods that resonate with the audience’s sensibilities is a compelling conclusion. Indeed, finding innovative and engaging ways to convey information is crucial in an age where traditional channels might not cut through the noise effectively.