MINOR

TEXT NECK

This assignment was about observing how technology is affecting human behavior and investigating how our body is evolving due to use of technology. Text Neck is a project about how people are addicted to their digital devices and how it effects our posture. It is a world wide problem and nowadays children are using these digital tools as well. Because they are still in their growing period it has effect on the physical deformity of the posture.

For this project I collaborate with graphic designer Julia Rahllf. We decided to focus on the bent neck pain. We sketched a future scenario that we have long bent necks in the future. That is caused by relentless use of mobile phones.

We are criticizing our society with humoristic and exaggerated illustrations of how we are/will look like. After observations and field research we found that neck pain caused by technology is already a big problem. We sketched a scenario how people might look like in the future and also what we will need to use for preventing this problem. We think that its going to be impossible to make people stop using their phones, therefore we wanted to make something that will help people keep a good body posture while they are using their mobile phone.

When people are walking in the streets looking at their phone, they are kind of in their own bubble. Our accessorize does not prevent people from being in their own bubble, it actually helps people to still be in this digital world, but one thing is different - the body posture is now straitened and no one is suffering from the deformity of the posture.

Research

According to Hansraj,5 “text neck” may lead to early wear and tear on your spine and early spinal degeneration. As you repeatedly pull and stretch this area, it may become inflamed over time, which can result in muscle strain, pinched nerves, herniated discs, and abnormalities to your neck’s natural curvature.

This forward neck posture has also been linked to headaches, neurological problems and heart disease. That is sad because it is relatively easy to assume a healthy natural posture with your neck. All you need to do is slide your chin up at 45 degrees, which puts your head over your shoulders and causes your chest to move forward.

Field Research

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FACE IT

This is a project in collaboration with Rens and Julia. It is a collection of faces with texts in front of the mouth that represent the negative opinions of refugees expressed by the person on the picture below. We wanted to make people aware of the bad things that were saying about the refugees that was spread out over the net. We were on a internet hunt and found so many bad comments. We started a meme by giving those bad comments a face.

MEMES

PEPPER SPRAYING COP

ABOUT

Pepper Spray Cop (also known as “Casually Pepper Spray Everything Cop”) is a photoshop meme based on a photograph of a police officer offhandedly pepper spraying a group of Occupy protesters at the University of California Davis in November 2011.

ORIGIN

The pepper spraying cop is an meme based on a event during an Occupy movement demonstration at the University of California, Davis. The UC Davis pepper-spray incident occurred on November 18, 2011. After asking the protesters to leave, University police pepper sprayed a group of demonstrators as they were seated on a paved path in the campus quad. The video of UC Davis police officer Lt. John Pike pepper spraying demonstrators spread around the world as a viral video and the photograph became an meme.

In October 2013, a judge ruled that Lt. John Pike, the pepper sprayer, would be paid $38,000 in worker's compensation benefits, to compensate for his psychological pain and suffering. Apart from the worker's compensation award, he retained his retirement credits.

After the incident, large protests against the use of pepper spray occurred on campus. UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi apologized to the students, saying that the police had acted against her orders for there to be no arrests and no use of force. A public debate about the militarization of the police and the appropriate use of pepper spray on peaceful protesters took place in the media, with questions raised about the freedom of speech and the right to peaceably assemble guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

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