A Research On Representationalization In Our Time:The Imagination Of Relationship In Virtual Life

The virtual world is becoming more and more important in contemporary life.In this state of life,we are paying less attention to things in reality.And we are increasingly dependent on things in the virtual world,but have no intention of developing intimacy with them.We distance ourselves from everything around us and are briefly drawn to the novelty they bring to us.This change in our imagination of relationship is called representationalization,meaning that the relationship between modern people and the things around them is being replaced by its representation.This relationship,which was once natural and complete,now maintains only superficial functions of communication and interaction.As a result,the level of integration today is low.Although representationalization focuses on the integration of contemporary society,this thesis does not follow the context of social integration,but instead pays attention to the experience that contribute to the changing situation of modern integration.This experience is institutional and is driven by autonomy.Experience,in Walter Benjamin’s words,erlebnis,is used in his research on 19th-century urban civilization.He believes that experience can change people’s imagination of relationship,and the concept of experience is related to the visuality of the time.This thesis also explores the causes of representationalization by taking an archaeological approach to modern experience.This investigation includes not only a crosssectional study of the existing forms of experience in virtual life,but also a historical study of visuality,social culture,and the knowledge of experience.This thesis notes a new visuality since the 1970s,which separated individuals from the mass,and gave them autonomy in receiving information.During the same period,the ebb of revolutionary thought also led to the decline of the public and the rise of interest groups.The development of social culture and media has given birth to a concept of "reality representation",prompting individuals to shift the focus of their lives from reality to virtual world.Through three transformations of artistic practice,reality representation has shaped the modern experience system and promoted the combination of experience and virtual life.People’s collective focus on virtual life has led to alienation from reality,resulting in the prevalence of low-level integration based on inner satisfaction.In response to representationalization,this thesis takes "to be awake to your life" as a new ethics of modern people,and expects to transform the autonomy in experience into an autonomy in living.