(DIGITAL) MARK-MAKING: Materialising social media users’ virtual existence through analogue drawings

Description

Parallel conference in Xiamen University

The act of mark-making is an existential one. It is a way of dropping an anchor, to document one’s existence. Dating back thousands of years, human mark-marking in the form of handprints can be found in caves in many parts of the world, a declaration that ‘I was here!’. As time went on, forms of mark-making have evolved into artistic practice and language. Mark-making reflects our existential curiosity of ourselves and is a response to ‘being’. With the introduction of the Internet, forms of mark-making have moved online – an act of digital mark-making. This article examines the notion of digital mark-making through research as creative practice in the form of a series of drawings created with grey-lead pencil on paper (an analogue form of mark-making). The conceptual concerns for these series of drawings are informed by the structures, voice, and tone of the Internet. This conference paper discusses how the drawings engage with theories and notions surrounding social media and Internet culture. The drawings are examples of how the ‘small stories’ paradigm fits into the narrative structures of the Internet, and illustrates how they are acts of autobiography and expression of self through the act of digital mark-making.

Period	2023
Event title	Cumulus Beijing: Narratives of Love
Event type	Conference
Location	Beijing, ChinaShow on map
Degree of Recognition	National