R/T 002 - Living in a Hyperreal World
This week's radical thing is: How technology and media are blurring the lines between reality and fantasy
Whether conscious of it or not, we live in a continual interstitial moment where what is real and imagined, virtual and physical, interact. The things we view are reflected as models by which we exist and judge ourselves driven by technology and media, the boundaries of which are increasingly indistinguishable.
We live in a world of Hyperreality.
In the last few weeks, I've noticed a few things connected to this growing and accelerating trend. The first is Sam Smith's outfit at the Brit Awards.
Sam Smith at the Brit Awards (Ian West/PA)
Created by Harri, Smith's outfit stood out for its ridiculous silhouette that immediately fuelled a thousand memes. Looking ready to float away (or be popped by a sharp object), the outfit's aesthetic was straight out of a video game.
At the same time, MSCHF released their Big Red Boot. Directly from the feet of 'Astroboy', the Big Red boots are described as a "Cartoon boot for a Cool 3D World". The boots have become a viral visual moment, with influencers and pop icons snapping selfies in the boots to ensure the perception of being on-trend.
These two examples signify the extreme consumerism and hype culture on social media. Where do we go next when we have so much fame and wealth, and how can we separate ourselves from the everyday mundane? The answer is by living in a cartoon world where clothes no longer function as clothes but act as representations of an alternative reality.
And one we can’t even get off our feet!
MSCHF’s Big Red Boots - @HYPEBEAST/Twitter @lilap3/TikTok
I've also noticed Hyperreality in other places, such as transportation.
Kaido racing is a slice of Japanese car culture which, although not new, is experiencing increased popularity with a new generation of car enthusiasts.
Identified by exaggerated details, such as flared arches, oversized spoilers and eye-catching paint jobs - the cars look like they have been transported from a video game.
They haven't, but they inspired various video games where the cars raced around multiple tracks. This example shows the backwards porting of actual vehicles into the digital world. Here they look more at home, and we'd be challenged to think they were fantastical digital creations if we didn't know better.
An example of a Kaido Racer on the Shadow_TK instagram
Closer to home is an example from the world of motorcycles and my friend Hugo Eccles. In 2018 Hugo released a collaboration with Zero motorcycles - the Zero XP.
As part of the company's "Designing the Future Development Programme," Hugo crafted the drive chain and technology into a near-future icon. As only one bike exists, we experience it through screens and social media, on the Zero website, in Hugos' Instagram account or across the numerous online articles about it.
These examples illustrate how we experience reality in digital and physical forms and don't always perceive the difference. We may see marketing photos resembling computer renderings or models from science fiction movies. We will also see computer-generated visuals as marketing material representing the real thing. There is a constant blurring of the boundaries between the real and its representation.
The Zero XP by Hugo Eccles for Zero Motorcycles
Yet Hyperreality is more than inspiration for trend spotters and forecasters. It is built on socio-cultural and philosophical foundations.
French cultural theorist and philosopher Jean Baudrillard first described the phrase in 1981 in Simulacra and Simulation. Here he defines Hyperreality as the inability to distinguish the real from a simulation. He borrows the real he describes from Jaques Lachan; we should read this as the authentic.
Baudrillard saw Hyperreality as a symptom of a technologically advanced and postmodern culture. As technologies such as VR and various forms of AI continue to advance, we can expect the blurring of the boundaries between the real and the representation of the real to become more acute.
It is yet to be seen how society will react to this. (Indeed, Baudrillard believes that in a postmodern world, society as we understand it no longer exists). Will we see increases in mental health issues? Will we see a new search for authenticity in all parts of our life, from relationships to politics? Will we reject new technologies that continue to blur the lines between reality and fantasy, and will we want to increase the regulation of those that already exist?
Although the philosophical view of Hyperreality reads as overwhelmingly negative, it also has the potential to create new ways to connect to our authentic human selves. As I write this, a de-ageing filter is trending on TikTok. This filter splits your phone screen and presents images of present-day ‘you’ and your ‘teenage self’, replicating your movements and speech. This existential moment has had an unforeseen effect on the middle-aged, who publicly reflect on the journey of their lives and lost youth.
TikTok user @memo_akten experimenting with the ‘Teenage’ filter.
Does Hyperreality hold the potential to create personal shamans to help us deal with humanity's eternal questions and challenges - love, loss, old age and death?
As the lines between physical and virtual, real and representation, become increasingly blurred, we must decide how to engage with this new world. Whether we embrace it, reject it, or find some middle ground, one thing is sure: the world of Hyperreality is here to stay, and it will only get more complex and fascinating from here on in.