In terms of the specific area of identity construction this project aimed to explore, the synergy between physical and digital was a question which I felt was best examined through phenomenology. In answering the various questions I had developed through this framework of research, I relied heavily on phenomenological analysis of the process of beautification, how this is linked to identity and further experience of the participant existing in virtual space. The phenomenological aspect of the research involved interviewing participants on their personal experiences in virtual worlds and examining their lived experience through interviews which asked about their construction of identity thorough the concept of beauty. I wanted to examine how interlinked their experience in virtual and physical spaces were and whether the freedom and atemporality of various aspects of virtual space allowed for a more fluid identity. Examining the synergy between virtual and material space offers a vast and wide scope of areas to research, therefore focusing exclusively on the experience would allow me to further understand the impending prospect of a phygital future (Andrade, 2020). I concluded that in order to understand identity projected through the concept of beauty I needed to initially gather information of participants personal definitions and boundaries of both beauty and identity which were being explored in digital realms. My initial proposal for this research project asked ‘how technological advances could affect lived experience and how virtual territories could be created and occupied?’ (Coffey, 2020) with the aim to focus more specifically on the extended boundaries and definitions of beauty within these spaces, I sought to identify how these realms were merging and what that means for both construction and experience. As this question is rather subjective and unique to individuals and their personal lived experience, I found that a series of non-structured interviews combined with ethnographic observations of how they occupied virtual space was most appropriate. This strategy allowed for a fluidity and multiple conversations and analysis, my analysis was of course based on the particularity of the participants subjective experience and factors which influenced this needed to be considered (gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and accessibility etc).
As the methodology is phenomenological based ethnography, I actively ‘followed’ and began to observe users who I found interesting and relevant for the study, as well as attempting to more consciously observe how users portray themselves on social media. In terms of the interviews, I needed to establish a minimum of six (Creswell, n.d.) participants. I am inspired by the people who surround me and felt that I would like to interview some people who I already know, as the conversations would be more natural and could go deeper. I would also be able to compare their digital selves to their real selves, which could be beneficial to the study. In terms of age, my interviewees were across Generation Z as well as Millennials as they are the most active and their behaviours shape the ‘future’ of these online and offline spaces. Whilst composing a list of possible participants, I noticed that most of them were woman (both cis and trans women to be specific). This got me thinking about why my immediate thought about who I wanted to interview were women and I started to question whether I was introducing a bias to the study. I am a firm believer that gender is a social construct and I have explored this in my work before, however I am also interested in what constitutes as ‘feminine’ and as I am dealing with identity projected through the concept of ‘beauty’, this typically leads towards femininity and inevitably the study of female experience. I am interested in facial adornment, cosmetic procedures, make-up, prosthetics and wigs – and this just so happens to be a typically ‘female’ environment. At this point I noted that I would like to interview a participant who identifies as male to widen my study. Explain how I established exactly who I want to interview and why – I didn’t want a fixed Idea of my interviewees from the beginning, so I chose the participants and conducted the interviews as the project developed and as my question framework evolved.
With a loose methodology composed, I realised that as my speculative and analytical practices evolved, a large aspect of this practice-based research project would lie in the analysis of current user behaviours and identification of rising trends within the Gen Z demographic. Beyond ethnography, I wanted to identify new value systems and behaviours which could be presented in the form of trend reports, highly focused on analysing moments of transition within society and identifying the macrotrends’ indication of a future landscape. These would consist of metrics gathered independently using a blend of trend forecasting, quantitative and qualitative research as well as societal research tools and analysis of emerging social patterns. The ultimate goal being an analysis of the changing landscape of media, inside which the traditional boundaries of beauty were being challenged and extended through the construction of virtual identities.
As this project ultimately consists of practice-based research, a practical outcome involving media was imperative. With the rise in video communications and immersive media, I planned for the second outcome to be a film which would be a speculative visualisation of the trend report findings and visualise the possibilities the trends identified in the report are indicative of. Additionally, the phenomenological interviews based on individual lived experience, particularly notions of a phygital experience (one which is fluidly intertwined with physical space and virtual space) would inform the narrative, therefore the structure of the script would develop as the research did. I decided on using a spa as a way to situate the film in a realistic future, this was also a way of encompassing the multiple themes I was exploring in one relatable physical environment. Futurist James Canton speculated on a futuristic spa which included “Botox treatment…cancer cells treatment, a great massage, a rigorous workout, a few cybernetic enhancements for that hip that’s not been doing so good.” (Bromstein, 2017).