This project started with a prompt: “obsession.” I began with a standard, run-of-the-mill brainstorming session, thinking of all of my previous obsessions. For me, obsession always came hand-in-hand with online communities or "fandoms." Fandoms are centralized, collective obsession, and I wanted to explore how and why they function.
I decided to create myself a BTS “stan” account on multiple social media Twitter. I chose BTS because of its ubiquity online, being known outside of their insular community as being enthusiastic in good and bad ways.
Parallel to me checking this account daily, I also delved into the visual aesthetic of the band to gain a more thorough understanding of the community's source material. I watched all of the music videos chronologically and took screenshots and notes about each one. This culminated in a mosaic of 250 images documenting the changes that BTS has undergone throughout the years they have been performing.
I then turned towards the type of interactions I saw on BTS stan Twitter. I often saw non-Asian people getting called out publically for culturally appropriating Asian facial features, primarily the monolid. I used a cut-and-paste method of creating the video to mix the feelings I have about the subject and screenshots I took from my Twitter timeline. This creates a chaotic experience that barrages one's senses, much like the Twitter timeline does.
My final iteration of the project was similarly cluttered. Again, I drew upon my experience of the Twitter timeline's constant state of flux and neverending speed. I again used screenshots from my Twitter timeline, this time more generally regarding the common infighting among the fans. These screenshots I also juxtaposed against my dancing and a sort of remix I created of BTS’s War of Hormone.
I decided to create myself a BTS “stan” account on multiple social media Twitter. I chose BTS because of its ubiquity online, being known outside of their insular community as being enthusiastic in good and bad ways.
Parallel to me checking this account daily, I also delved into the visual aesthetic of the band to gain a more thorough understanding of the community's source material. I watched all of the music videos chronologically and took screenshots and notes about each one. This culminated in a mosaic of 250 images documenting the changes that BTS has undergone throughout the years they have been performing.
I then turned towards the type of interactions I saw on BTS stan Twitter. I often saw non-Asian people getting called out publically for culturally appropriating Asian facial features, primarily the monolid. I used a cut-and-paste method of creating the video to mix the feelings I have about the subject and screenshots I took from my Twitter timeline. This creates a chaotic experience that barrages one's senses, much like the Twitter timeline does.
My final iteration of the project was similarly cluttered. Again, I drew upon my experience of the Twitter timeline's constant state of flux and neverending speed. I again used screenshots from my Twitter timeline, this time more generally regarding the common infighting among the fans. These screenshots I also juxtaposed against my dancing and a sort of remix I created of BTS’s War of Hormone.