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Glimpses of emotion revealed through SMS
A new exhibition by RMIT University’s Dr Larissa Hjorth combines photography,
video and SMS messages from around the globe to reveal hidden moments of
mobile emotion.
CU, a video work about SMS (and the vernaculars of emotion), will open on 5 June
at the Centre for Contemporary Photography, Fitzroy.
Dr Hjorth, a researcher, artist and lecturer in RMIT’s School of Creative Media, said
while SMS was an older technology, text messages still played a significant role in
keeping people intimately connected.
“Text messaging has always involved the ephemeral, compressed and
abbreviated,” she said.
“You can see the roots of SMS in postcards – another form of condensed
communication – and we’re now seeing the grammatical forms and reductions of
text messaging extending into a new medium, Twitter.
“This exhibition presents a snapshot of the transitory emotions evoked by the SMS
messages we send and receive, those fleeting moments of sadness, love and
friendship that continue to play such a meaningful part in our everyday lives.”
Dr Hjorth has been researching and publishing on mobile communication, new
media, online gaming and virtual communities across the Asia-Pacific since 2000.
In CU, she collected SMS messages from mobile phone users worldwide, along
with their thoughts on how they felt about each SMS, then combined the texts with
images she created in response to the users’ emotional states.
The texts range from the humourous,
BTW. Kitty reminded me about the pack we made, age 70 house full of cats x
to the poignant,
I’m never there when I should be, but I do think of you every day.. xx.
CU is at the Centre for Contemporary Photography, 404 George St, Fitzroy, from 5
Media note: High-resolution images of select works in the exhibition are available.
For interviews: Dr Larissa Hjorth, (03) 9925 9754 or 0430 311 063.
For general media enquiries: RMIT University Media and Communications,
Gosia Kaszubska, (03) 9925 3176 or 0417 510 735.
25 May, 2009
NEWS 
