Virtual viscosity

In the reflective image of the digital surface, virtuality provocatively compels us to rethink and evaluate our movements or execute them based on prior planning and consideration. This is particularly evident in vlogs on online streaming platforms, where movements are often meticulously scripted to convey an imagined outcome with its desired mediation, or aesthetic. In this respect, the discrepancy becomes apparent between spontaneous movements (outside the camera lens) and carefully curated actions within the controlled frame depicted in vlogs. Alongside these recorded motion-screenings, bodily behaviours are displayed in more or less pure form during real-time broadcasts in online video conferences. In this immediacy on a mirroring screen, one can experience a simultaneous reflection of here and there. This may lead individuals to observe the virtual frame and critically evaluate and (re)consider their appearance in gestures, posture, and facial expression. In capturing these influenced movements, virtual viscosity highlights behavioural changes of bodily expressions by displaying them on a self-reflecting surface, where the spectator observes not only the video work but also their own image within the reflective panel.