"Facebook User Claims Digital Demise: Is Our Online Identity Overtaking Reality?"
In the digital realm, boundaries between the physical and virtual worlds are increasingly blurred. This exploration unfolds within the innovative virtual reality (VR) installation, "I died on Facebook," conceived by artists Martina Pizzigoni and Alessia Fallica. The project delves into the intricate relationships among technology, identity, and mortality, raising profound questions about the virtual existence of an individual beyond physical demise.
At the 7th edition of the Recto VRso festival, set to take place from April 11 to 14, 2024, the festivalgoers will have the opportunity to engage with this thought-provoking installation.
"I died on Facebook" poses a pertinent inquiry: when a person passes away in the physical world, what becomes of their digital self? Do they persist indefinitely in the virtual realm?
Death, in this digitally-driven universe, takes on a new dimension. The artwork focuses on the 'virtual self' – a concept growing in significance in an era where technology advances and immersive environments proliferate. Even the act of death encompasses the virtual, as evidenced by memorialized accounts on social media platforms such as Facebook. These platforms serve as virtual sites of remembrance, established by loved ones after a person's passing.
The installation presents a pixelated graphic universe resembling a cemetery, replete with virtual tombstones. The names written on these headstones stem from collected data from commemorative profiles scraped using a Python-coded Facebook scraper. Participants find themselves in this interactive and unconventional digital graveyard, challenging conventional notions of death and identity.
"I died on Facebook" forms part of a game, a medium the artists extensively employ in their installations. Two avenues provide access to the game: online participation or on-site immersion using a VR headset. The experience is further extended to a collaborative online community found within the Minecraft platform, allowing multiple players to interact.
At the Art&VR Gallery during the forthcoming Recto VRso festival, participants will encounter a symbolic space where the temporal existence of the deceased persists in a universe distinct from our conventional understanding of time. Art serves as a powerful tool for the duo, prompting audience members to ponder modernity's consequences in the digital age, particularly the "digital overload" and the priorities placed on virtual identity.
By creating this immersive VR experience, the artists challenge users to grapple with existential questions about our digital afterlives, emphasizing the need for dialogue on ethical dilemmas surrounding data preservation after death, digital memorialization, and the evolving perception of digital legacies.
In the gaming component of "I died on Facebook," participants can engage with the installation either online or through a VR headset, immersing themselves in a pixelated digital graveyard populated by virtual tombstones bearing names scraped from commemorative profiles on Facebook. This exploration of digital afterlives serves as a platform for artists Martina Pizzigoni and Alessia Fallica to address modern ethical dilemmas related to data preservation after death, digital memorialization, and the evolving perception of digital legacies, all within the context of a blurring border between physical and virtual lifestyles in the digital age.
