Covid1984

05/26/202010/05/2020
by Karin

The COVID1984 animation is made for distribution on social media platforms and appears in a 1:1 ratio for easy distribution and viewing on handheld devices. This short video warns the public sphere about the rhetoric in the media. Inspired by the style of graphics innovator Saul Bass and rebel artists of the Dadaists movement, Karin sets the storyline in literature and history. Karin uses the concepts of Orwellian language and images of the carnivalesque and the Spectacle to highlight the media rhetoric.

Motives

Understanding who is producing the news and their motives are is helpful when deciphering which media sources are legitimate. Using primary source facts is our best defence against rhetoric and spin. Although primary sources can often be distorted or manipulated by media outlets and individuals who seek to disrupt how the truth in the process. Decerning what is truth and what is spin or propaganda has become a difficult task in these media-saturated times. Media consumers should never be passive targetted-ad-receivers but should form a clear conclusion when presented with facts. Though facts that have very little signal noise are becoming progressively more difficult to find online or on traditional forms of media individuals can seek the truth. Covid1984 is a reminder to filtre the Newspeak and seek facts even if it requires research.

In Literature

Persuasion not based in fact has to lead society to the brink of Oligarchical Collectivism according to George Orwell. Alternately Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World describes a world that has become an irrelevant trivial culture. Society must not let the ease of media consumption sway the factual truth. Collectively humanity must look beyond the simplified rhetoric that is presented by the media to reveal the truth.

Please feel free to download this video for use as commentary wherever you believe there is truth to be discovered.

Participate

For further interactivity with this blog watch these final words from George Orwell regarding the future.
What do you think? Does Orwell’s prophecy resemble the world we are living in today?
Please add your comments below.

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What are Primary Sources?

Karin

Primarily interested in society and the commons, Karin’s art and writing take inspiration from Mikhail Bakhtin’s Rabelais and His World and Guy Debord’s Society of the Spectacle. She enjoys poking fun at society, celebrity, politics and entitlement using pastiche, satire and parody as her tools. Karin began her professional career as an interpretive Illustrator in 1997, specializing in publishing and advertising. In 2000 she began working as a graphic designer for print media, focusing on business branding and educational book publishing. Shortly after, she added web design, copywriting and social media to her portfolio. Karin is currently exploring interactive art after completing a B.A. in Multimedia at McMaster University.