My journey through college as both a Musical Theater and English major has forced me to learn all sorts of different skills to keep up with the rigorous pace set before me. And as I began brainstorming the form I wanted my artist book to take, I had the idea of meshing my work with video editing alongside the sort of stories I’ve grown to love over these years. “Planned” is a combination of digital and physical elements that tells a clashing story of the degree of control one has upon their life, and whether breaking away from a clear-cut schedule can really be called freedom. The book itself is comprised of several ‘to-do’ lists detailing the events of the unnamed ‘protagonists’ day. Most tasks are checked off to indicate their completion, while others remain uncompleted. The book itself is not too complicated, leaning more into the DIY style of the project. However, the text itself is typed out formally, and arranged as it would be on a digital document. Each page details a single day, and opposite each to-do list is a QR code; these codes are what tie into the digital half of the book.
Clicking on each code brings the reader to a YouTube video, titled for whichever ‘day’ they correspond with. The videos detail the unnamed protagonist going through their day, with a formless narrator instructing them on what to do and how to do it. The videos were all shot in the first person, with the narration being layered over each video in post after being edited together. However, as the events of each video play out, it becomes clear that although the format starts similarly to the physical lists, the protagonist is often less than willing to follow along with what has been planned for them. By the end of the video series, it will become clear to the reader that the life written out for the protagonist on the physical list is quite different from what the reader will see in the videos.
The idea behind this project has always been to explore the narrative dissonance between the physical list and the narrated videos. The lists serve as safe, organized descriptions of a day, taking care not to let the protagonist push themselves or become uncomfortable. The narrator also strives to do this as well in the videos, though the free will of the protagonist often gets in their way. I made the narrator’s identity vague mainly to help readers see this story in their own way. The protagonist has some clear characteristics throughout the videos and physical lists, but I made it clear that these actions could be taken by anyone. It was this generalized nature that I used to play up the dissonance between the physical and digital elements, as the sometimes surreal and intense nature of the videos were increased by the lack of much concrete information. The two stories presented to the reader only match one another to a certain extent. And the differences between the two create its own story.
“Planned” presents the idea of whether planning out every detail of your life is truly a good thing and examines how good the opposite is as well. Though the scope grew and grew the more I worked on it, it was a pleasure to be able to create a project that utilized so many of the skills I have picked up over the years.
To view the digital content of “Planned,” click on this hyperlink.