Project Proposal

The main underlying theme of my visual investigation will be that of conformity and social cohesion versus ideas of the individual within modern society. To investigate this I will research various different theories relating to and examples of conformity within our society which I will in turn explore visually through a variety of different image making processes documented in my visual journal.

In order to research these themes in depth I intend to look into the main theories surrounding conformity. This will include looking at ways in which conformity manifests itself in the individual through two distinctly different phenomena known as informational social influence, or social proof, and normative social influence. Furthermore I then intend to look at the consequences this has on group dynamics specifically exploring whether or not it is a positive thing through strengthening social cohesion or whether or not it can actually have negative affects such as those associated with the theory of 'groupthink'.

I am particularly interested in looking into the how conformity effects people differently according to age. Many past studies have suggested that, as the individual ages the less likely they are to conform to the views and actions of others. Therefore I want to explore exactly why this occurs although finding a definitive answer to this will be difficult as studies have highlighted a variety of different reasons such as fear of rejection, desires to succeed through conforming to those higher up the social ladder as well as it, particular yin the 1-9 age brackets, being a way through which children can learn from there elders.

In order to visually investigate this content I will focus primarily on ideas of repetitious and monotony within my images. Initially this will be more figurative work so as to reflect the theme of people within society, however eventually I would like to move it towards something more abstract, possibly focussing on shape and geometry. I intend to explore these images through a variety of different processes, both analogue and digital.