Dissonant Simultaneity
Disclaimer: Despite the source footage, the goal of this study is not intended to be political in nature, but meant to generate sociological observations. The study seeks to both understand and demonstrate how new expanding networks driven by information technology might exacerbate or change existing ‘crowd tendencies’ within architectural space. This is conducted through analyzing how different ‘crowds’ react (positively, or negatively) to the same simultaneous event/result. These relationships are further abstracted through an intentional aural dissonance (via the exchange of sound between clips), as a commentary on the simultaneity yet lack of synchronicity of the ‘opposing’ events despite being similar in scale. This is accentuated by the display of internet messages (of the opposite sentiment) written at the same time of said events (via twitter), showing how these relatively new and ubiquitous networks increase the sociality of this simultaneous event.
Although the ability for these crowd reactions to coexist simultaneously is certainly not a new concept, new layers of information brought upon by the expanding social networks allow an increase in the connectivity of thoughts and ideas. Logically, this should result in the understanding and reconciling of opposing views, often what is created however, is a magnification and multiplication of like-minded ideals. Displaying the opposing sounds and written sentiments produces a dissonant, yet real simultaneous moment. Without our current expanding social network, this condition would be near impossible to experience.
