Character name – Recycle Bin (ReRe)
Age – n/a
Location – Computer system
Occupation – A temporary file that deleted items are stored in.
Study – Recycling
Character Analysis –
My Character was ReRe Recycle Bin, technically my character represented;
‘An icon on the Windows desktop that represents a directory where deleted files are temporarily stored. This enables you to retrieve files that you may have accidentally deleted. From time to time, you’ll want to purge the recycle bin to free up space on your hard disk. You can also configure Windows so that it doesn’t use the recycle bin at all, but then you won’t be able to retrieve accidentally deleted files’. (Quinstreet inc 2012)
Although the character was represented as a French maid, holding a bucket and a feather duster. Not only was this representation a theatrical way of portraying a recycle bin, it also held connotations of promiscuity, and the way in which certain women are depicted online.
The character was established after thorough research of computer systems and accessories. Originally I was going to take on the role as a saloon style bar tender. The idea was not seen through as collaboratively we decided that a portrayal of the exposure of women was not enough to contribute to our concept, and so combining both a depiction of the exposure of women online and a computer accessory overall was a successful use characterization.
In terms of how Recycle Bin contributed to the piece; firstly, the character is seen in the V.I.P Check in lounge tidying up and generally cleaning the system. As the audience members congregated inside I started to remove the cans of spam from around the room. The cans of Spam were a great contributing factor to portraying real life elements within the Cyber Network. The character then had to Check that the audience members has their mobile phones on them. The concept of all audience members having their mobile phones i.e virtual id’s handy was to enforce the idea that they are just as part of the cyber network as our characters were. Recycle Bin was then shunned into the Spam room by the computer administrator (Jamie Downes).
Once inside the Spam room an auction took place in which character profiles were bid for in the form of social networking actions i.e Poking, friend requests, follows. The scene depicted how people exist online and by creating an online character a person is immediately selling themselves to anyone that is able to view the profile.
Whilst inside the spam room we incorporated music and a computer programme that replicated Spotify, namely Dotify. Due to Spotify being such a current and influential music networking site we felt that incorporating it into our piece would make it contemporary and socially adequate.
We then moved on to the Main room where we were stripped of our identities. The online profiles that made our characters a part of the cyber society that had been created were deactivated. By deactivating the profiles it stripped the characters of their identities which left them as merely shells, not able to move or communicate.
Furthermore, the characters were unplugged and taken down to the basement which represented a tainted view of reality, and the harsh fact that the cyber is slowly taking over the real-life existence that we know.
Costume –
The costume that Recycle Bin wore was a black and white French maids outfit, full make-up in order to emphasize a dolled-up online character and the two props; a feather duster and a recycle bucket.
Reference –
Inc, Quinstreet, Recycle Bin, Online: http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/R/recycle_bin.html (Accessed: May 2012)