Erase me – an analog identity recommender system

Identity construction was the central research question for my thesis. My dissertation focused around the narrative of the star sign Gemini through the lens of the social construct, femininity. It questioned how identities form with society constructs, how they adapt over time and change within various transmedia outputs.

Nothing was concrete, and the representation of Gemini reshaped itself as society moved forward. But, was there a way to portray an individual’s identity construction visually; through studio practice?

In this project, readers can choose a page, a line; anything in these books, and erase the words until what is left on the page represents a fraction of their own life story; effectively portraying their own identity. I “hacked” a vinyl cutter and placed a pencil in it, instead. Each page took 15 minutes and every book was filled with randomized bits of text, from the constitution, social media, newspapers, terms of condition, user agreements, and television from the day of the project. The text was randomized using atmospheric noise. Using GT Cinetype as the books’ typeface seemed natural, as it is based on subtitle design, and this was effectively the narration of our lives, the pairing seemed kismet. Pitch was used for labels and index cards.

This project was exhibited as a full library in the summer of 2019. Some photos of the project, at the graduate exhibition of the Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin, formerly DIT) can be seen below. One book from the library was bought for the National Gallery and the college.