Alexander Repp: necrolog of robin williams or the suicide of irony
Artist(s):
Title:
- necrolog of robin williams or the suicide of irony
Exhibition:
Creation Year:
- 2014
Medium:
- Video
Size:
- 3:00 min.
Category:
Artist Statement:
On 13 August 2014, between 11:25 pm and 11:45 pm, BBC Three showed the episode of Family Guy involving Robin Williams and his failed suicide attempt. Shortly afterwards, at 11:56 pm, Reuters news agency confirmed the suicide of Robin Williams. It is an uncanny coincidence, but what does it mean for the tragic irony of the cartoon? In an inverted form of irony, the audience has an advance in knowledge from the fictional world towards the real world. Can we still speak of irony?
In a virtual journey through the Twitter network we might perceive a narrative obituary, that was created by related twitter users. Inductively, the opinions spread in just a few minutes. Consequently, a wave of empathy traveled across the network. The broadcast brought people together, in a bizarre and eerie way, who were trying to figure out a way to response to the incident.
Technical Information:
Software: Blender, Gephi, Linux/Lenovo ThinkPad W520
