In my thesis, I explore the creation of presence out of absence and the transformation of the fictional and affective into the real. This process, grounded in the structure of magical thinking, is linked to the concepts of simulacrum, rumors, post-truth, and emo-truth.
The word deepfake is used metaphorcally in the title – as a label for rumors generated through performative acts. I am interested in how the meaning o fan artwork (and thus the work itself) emerges through the interaction between viewer and object; how viewers, by responding to the object, do not (merely) re-construct but construct its meaning – and therby become a part of the work.
The practical part includes placing small altars in public spaces, maintaining them over time, and spreading rumors about them via Reddit using multiple anonymous fake profiles. Reactions from both passersby and online users help build an urban myth, conspiracy theories and rumors which leads to simulated presence of a fictive subject and its cultic environment within the collective memory.
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