Conformity is infinite Part 4:
Authority is a black car (WIP)
My installation project, titled "Conformity is Infinite," seeks to delve into the complex and often fraught relationship between conformity and individual agency. At its core, my project is driven by a central question: to what extent do societal pressures and cultural values influence our behavior and choices, and how do we resist or challenge these norms? Every day, we are confronted with a range of expectations and social norms that shape our behavior, from values like kindness and empathy to more concrete concepts such as the protection of private property and respect for human dignity. While these values serve as a powerful form of social glue, they can also be exploited and twisted to justify atrocities. For example, the Holocaust and the rise of Communism were both in part a reflection of the destructive power of conformity, as individuals succumbed to pressure to conform to a particular ideology or belief system.
The fourth part of my project is called Authority is a black car (working subtitle), and it is a single channel film that will be shown on a 46 inch monitor. This film explores whether authority is the cause of conformity since authority puts a lot of pressure on other people to do something they don’t want to. This kind of pressure will create the kind of conformity that brings a lot of convenience to people’s lives. Authority is a black car is about how I am followed by a black car at night. I am walking along a dark road at 12:30 am. Suddenly there is a car following me, and it lights up the roads for me. The car is moving as slowly as I walk down the road. I want to see who is doing it. However, when I look at the window of the car, I can’t see through it. Many bad idea and thoughts rush into my head. This has happened in my dreams as well. In the dreams, I always run. But when I made the decision to run, the ending is always bad. Because of the pressure of being followed, I think running away from it was the only choice I had at that moment. I could’ve walked with the black car, but because of its pressure car put on me, I have to do something I don’t want to. If I do not run away from the black car, there are a lot of possibly bad things that could happen to me. When I run away from it, I narrow the possibility of what would happen into one. One choice means no choice, and “ I have no choice but to run.” I want to question about whether we made the decision to conform or the authority makes the decision for us by using the metaphor of the black car. On a 46 inch monitor, I will show the possibility of what could happen to me when I am not run away from the black car (authority).
