"Creative Response"

Wikipedia defines détournement as the process in which “an artist reuses elements of well-known media to create a new work with a different message, often one opposed to the original.” This statement influenced me to consider how I would create a détournement in opposition of my current research subject. In reading the rough drafts of my classmates, I have discovered that many of us are focusing on similar topics. However, no topic is entirely the same as another. Therefore, I think it would be interesting to create a new essay incorporating the thoughts of my classmates. I would focus on those students whose research was similar to mine but who had developed some assumptions contradicting my own.

In his essay “Methods of Détournement,” Guy-Ernest Debord states that, “one is not limited to correcting a work or to integrating diverse fragments of out-of-date works into a new one; one can also alter the meaning of those fragments in any appropriate way.” Though I would integrate the views of my classmates into my own essay, I would also explain my own interpretations of their words and how they are relevant to my topic. My current research topic considers how online anonymity enhances the connection between members of online communities. In order to compose a détournement, I would need to consider how online anonymity can lead to discontent among internet communities. I think that this would be an interesting perspective to look into.

I am also considering doing some type of anonymity project similar to PostSecret. I would like to somehow merge PostSecret and Project Mortified. I am considering what types of things kids would say if they were given a post card and told to write down a secret. I think it would be both comical and interesting. I am still not sure how I will go about doing this type of project.