METAPHORS
OF DIGITAL AFTERLIFE
OF DIGITAL AFTERLIFE
Project curator:
Ksenia Kopalova
Illustrators:
Dan Cornwell
Ruby Stevens
Ellie Bussey
Miles Pyle
Fearne Mills
Ksenia Kopalova
Illustrators:
Dan Cornwell
Ruby Stevens
Ellie Bussey
Miles Pyle
Fearne Mills
Cover image: Dan Cornwell
This time .RAW collaborated with the first year illustration students at the Arts University Bournemouth to reflect on the ways the idea of 'digital afterlife' can be visualised.
What images come to mind when we think about what happens to personal data after a person's departure, about the life of uninhabited servers, about technologies on the verge of obsoletion?
The challenge of this project was defining what 'digital afterlife' means for each illustrator, and in this material, the authors are sharing their ideas and thought process.
What images come to mind when we think about what happens to personal data after a person's departure, about the life of uninhabited servers, about technologies on the verge of obsoletion?
The challenge of this project was defining what 'digital afterlife' means for each illustrator, and in this material, the authors are sharing their ideas and thought process.
The concept here revolved around the idea of compression and abstraction of personal digital data.
The illustration depicts a human being’s soul being condensed into a disk, reflecting how our digital data and online presence can create an abstracted digital version of us on social media. The picture takes the form of an 1980s computer advertisement, with a satirical twist.
The process is depicted in a cold, instructional manner, mirroring the detached way digital systems collect, store, and reduce the human experience into data. The computer parts were designed to subtly evoke the human body without being overtly biological. The work explores a form of digital resurrection, where a new lifeform emerges from the preserved data of the deceased, existing as a superficial and distorted version of the original individual.
The illustration depicts a human being’s soul being condensed into a disk, reflecting how our digital data and online presence can create an abstracted digital version of us on social media. The picture takes the form of an 1980s computer advertisement, with a satirical twist.
The process is depicted in a cold, instructional manner, mirroring the detached way digital systems collect, store, and reduce the human experience into data. The computer parts were designed to subtly evoke the human body without being overtly biological. The work explores a form of digital resurrection, where a new lifeform emerges from the preserved data of the deceased, existing as a superficial and distorted version of the original individual.
Dan Cornwell
My project explores what happens to my personal digital data after I stop using it or die. Social media platforms and apps don’t last forever and interfaces become obsolete and disappear, but the data created through them may still continue to exist within these digital systems. Photos, messages, location data, and general online activity can remain stored even when they are no longer visible or relevant to me.
I am interested in the idea that my digital data doesn’t continue to exist on its own, but can mix with other systems and machine processes over time. This project imagines a hidden digital afterlife where my abandoned personal data continues to exist, becoming fragmented, encrypted, and separated from its original context.
I have aimed to visualise this invisible world by imagining a future where my forgotten digital data is reconstructed by machines into new digital beings that attempted to recreate versions of me. Because this data only captures specific moments in my life, the machine only manages to create incomplete and distorted interpretations of my identity.
I am interested in the idea that my digital data doesn’t continue to exist on its own, but can mix with other systems and machine processes over time. This project imagines a hidden digital afterlife where my abandoned personal data continues to exist, becoming fragmented, encrypted, and separated from its original context.
I have aimed to visualise this invisible world by imagining a future where my forgotten digital data is reconstructed by machines into new digital beings that attempted to recreate versions of me. Because this data only captures specific moments in my life, the machine only manages to create incomplete and distorted interpretations of my identity.
Ruby Stevens
Ellie Bussey
This airbrushed painting is a window into the dreamlike perspective of death within the world of Counter Strike: Source, a game rarely played in the current decade. It is reflective of the past era of gaming and can be seen as a metaphorical death of an online world. The player is captured out of bounds, floating in between spaces, perhaps situated in purgatory. The broken geometry and lack of players create a liminal experience which can further invoke the finality of death.
However, the water within the distance may symbolise a brighter outlook, perhaps of rebirth and reincarnation, reflective of a player waiting to respawn, oscillating that of a fps game. The airbrushed medium creates a hazy and dreamlike perspective, reminding the viewer of unrealism, a separation between the digital life and real life. It is a third place that once was but no longer is yet can present the promise of rebirth and an afterlife in a digital space.
However, the water within the distance may symbolise a brighter outlook, perhaps of rebirth and reincarnation, reflective of a player waiting to respawn, oscillating that of a fps game. The airbrushed medium creates a hazy and dreamlike perspective, reminding the viewer of unrealism, a separation between the digital life and real life. It is a third place that once was but no longer is yet can present the promise of rebirth and an afterlife in a digital space.
Miles Pyle
I decided on working on the concept of the ‘Afterlife’ through rethinking the assets from a game called Dishonored. It was originally published in 2012 and soon became a trilogy, its last game made in 2017. The franchise grew extremely popular after its initial release, though by its’ third instalment, that popularity had declined.
For this brief I have focused on producing an illustration involving an item that was exclusive to this franchise: Bonecharms. After some mind mapping and consideration, my final illustration shows Bonecharms displayed to resemble relics within a museum, using references from the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. There are also small
pieces of information within the piece, containing information regarding these bonecharms and how they had been used within the franchise.
The concept of an ‘Afterlife’ is what inspired me to use ideas from exhibits and displays of relics or weaponry within museums, as that can be seen as putting those items ‘to rest’. My intention was to present these Bonecharms in the same light as one would a weapon or an accessory worn in the days before.
For this brief I have focused on producing an illustration involving an item that was exclusive to this franchise: Bonecharms. After some mind mapping and consideration, my final illustration shows Bonecharms displayed to resemble relics within a museum, using references from the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. There are also small
pieces of information within the piece, containing information regarding these bonecharms and how they had been used within the franchise.
The concept of an ‘Afterlife’ is what inspired me to use ideas from exhibits and displays of relics or weaponry within museums, as that can be seen as putting those items ‘to rest’. My intention was to present these Bonecharms in the same light as one would a weapon or an accessory worn in the days before.
Fearne Mills
My work visualises the afterlife of a video game by imagining its abandoned digital world as a haunted archaeological site. A disconnected CRT television overgrown by plants which acts as a monument to obsolete technology. The game no longer exists as an active experience but survives through fragments, memories, and residual data. On the screen, gravestones and crosses replace familiar game environments, suggesting a digital cemetery where virtual spaces persist as the console ages.
The changing between the glitching screens and circling back to the beginning image on the television gives the afterlife more meaning as it is being resurrected and dying all over again. By combining outdated gaming hardware with symbols of death and remembrance, the image explores how digital media can continue to exist in forms long after its cultural relevance and functionality. The work responds to .RAW’s theme of “Afterlives” by presenting a game world not as deleted or erased, but as a lingering ghost.
The changing between the glitching screens and circling back to the beginning image on the television gives the afterlife more meaning as it is being resurrected and dying all over again. By combining outdated gaming hardware with symbols of death and remembrance, the image explores how digital media can continue to exist in forms long after its cultural relevance and functionality. The work responds to .RAW’s theme of “Afterlives” by presenting a game world not as deleted or erased, but as a lingering ghost.