Above is a picture of the biggest music festival in the
world, Tomorrowland. It is a three day festival of non stop music, dancing, and substance taking in Belgium. To me, one of the
most obvious forms of hyperreality is music festivals. When one enters a music
festival, it is like going into another world. You cannot help but get swept
away by the vibe of the buzzing atmosphere. The music, the sense of excitement in the air,
the crowd and lastly the substances (alcohol and drugs) that are taken all create an environment that feels completely out of touch.
I want to make each and everyone of you realise that we live in a hyperrealistic world
Everyday, I live in hyperreality
From the moment I get out of bed every morning, I am immersed in the hyperreal. I open my eyes to see my room which in itself is a hyperreality. From the curtains to my bedsheets, my room has been designed to create the modern look. On my shelves are picture frames, each displaying a moment captured in the past. These photographs help me relive my memories and recreate the past.
Next to my bathroom is my vanity table. I see it now as a place where I create a hyperreal version of myself. Every morning, I dedicate an hour of my day to shower and apply make-up to my face. My reason for this is to look healthy and attractive. With make up, I can disguise my flaws and enhance my features.
Next to my bathroom is my vanity table. I see it now as a place where I create a hyperreal version of myself. Every morning, I dedicate an hour of my day to shower and apply make-up to my face. My reason for this is to look healthy and attractive. With make up, I can disguise my flaws and enhance my features.
Wake up, it's the make-up
In the beginning of 2011, I suffered from an internal infection which landed me in the intensive care department (otherwise known as ICU) of the Royal North Shore hospital. Until now, I have not recovered to full health. Underneath all the foundation, bronzer, blush, eyeliner and mascara is a sickly face that lacks a healthy glow. Also suffering from low blood sugar, my face lacks the rosey colour that is normal for healthy individuals. To compensate this, every morning I apply a light layer of blush over my cheeks as part of my daily make up routine.
My height is another flaw that I attempt to hide. With a height of 155cm, I am very short. To conceal my height, I buy shoes that at least have a heel of 5cm. Every time I go out with my boyfriend (who is 185cm tall) I wear heels that are even higher. How have you attempted to hide your physical flaws?
A message to the guys: The majority of you may not use make up, but what about the times when you have styled your hair with gel or dyed it a different colour?
My height is another flaw that I attempt to hide. With a height of 155cm, I am very short. To conceal my height, I buy shoes that at least have a heel of 5cm. Every time I go out with my boyfriend (who is 185cm tall) I wear heels that are even higher. How have you attempted to hide your physical flaws?
A message to the guys: The majority of you may not use make up, but what about the times when you have styled your hair with gel or dyed it a different colour?
Improving my health with the help of supplements
To aid my recovery, I took many different supplements such as vitamin B and vitamin C. I also took liver tonic supplements to help my livers to recover from such heavy doses of antibiotics. To help me improve my low blood pressure, I took spirulina supplements that helps to promote the production of blood cells. Normally, vitamins can be absorbed from consumption of fruits (vitamin C) and meat products (vitamin B complex). This is the natural method of gaining vitamins from a wide range of food sources. Now days, we can go to the nearest vitamin store and buy these manufactured concentrated vitamin supplements to balance our diet.
The night, the lights and how we recreate the effect of sun
The type of lighting we use can affect our perception of our surroundings. How many of you prefer to use yellow lighting in your house? As human beings, we have low night vision abilities and we have adopted the use of lighting to help us see better. Yellow lighting allows us to view things similar to the way we see objects during the day and under the sun.
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Changing the authenticity of our reality with photographic effects
Other examples of my hyperreality
Money and Conspicuous Consumption
Yet another hyperreality exists in how we spend our money. The concept of conspicuous consumption is where one spends money on products and services that help them to portray their economic power. To a certain extent, I am also involved in this practice of conspicuous consumption. I was fortunate to grow up in a middle income family which sent me to a private girl school from kindergarten to year twelve. Growing up in this environment showed me how important it was to own luxurious goods. Between good friends, it was like a competition to see who was better, who was wealthier and who was more fortunate. I grew up with a developed sense of materialism and it was important for me to have the best, if not in brand, then in quality.
WHAT I'VE LEARNT FROM THIS PROJECT
This project has made me realise how my own life is surrounded by hyperrealities. It has made me question about anything and everything that I encounter as well as the realities that currently exists in my life now. Are these realities more precisely hyperrealities in disguise? Are there any realities in my life now that are truly authentic? Whilst the line between what is real and what is a simulation of the real have been previously blurred, it is becoming clearer to me now. I have realised that we live in a world that has so completely accepted these hyperrealities as realities. These heightened, improved and reproduced forms of reality have become the way we live in this current culture. As such, it has become a way of living, an extremely important factor in this culture where discovering new exciting experiences defines one's thrill for living. In an age where social media and technology has become an integral part of everyone's lives, it is almost too difficult to live without hyperrealities. As such, I have begun to ontologically question the realities of our being, almost to the point where I have become depersonalisied. I have become so self aware of the truth of my own realities and the way I think that it seems like I have been detached from my physical being whilst thinking about my own thinking.