Shortlisted Entry
Rashmi Varma
The thesis is an inquiry into aspects of Media Ecology i.e., looking at media as an environment one inhabits that perennially structures human perception, behavior and engagement with its polity. In an age of hyperreality and information overdose, it is imperative to identify and inspect what affects the way we think- especially as citizens of a democratic society that is divided on the basis of what media one has access to. The alienation is beyond ideological- it begins with a physical access to a medium that then crafts an experience on the basis of its design. Hypothesizing whether the design of the medium alters the way information is generated and engaged with.
Through the architecture of a medium, the aim is to discover a network of spaces required to create accesses that bring the public on a collective level of real-world engagement. A study of network based public institutions led to the exploration of the structure of our postal network, to tap into its existing extensive infrastructure and revamping it for the creation of democratic media spaces. To foster a bottom-up approach by creating agency at multiple levels and in autonomous mobile formats- where the medium is both, a space and an event.
The thesis hopes to discover ways of creating more informed/evolved media environments and making the production of information more transparent and participatory. To decentralize voices and power by the creation of an alternate media network to ultimately have more control and say in our collective media environment.
