Case Study
Case Study is a nonlinear narrative in which two sides of the same story are woven together, first online across several websites and later in a live performance. Case Study delves into issues such as online identity, research bias, research ethics, manipulation, control, abnormal behavior diagnosis, and online identity. The process of creating Case Study also explores more practical issues such as working within an interdisciplinary collaborative team and exploring new marketing and audience building techniques. The piece’s first iteration began online through different networking websites such as Facebook, MySpace, Blip.Tv, and YouTube, as well as through a website specifically dedicated to the project. It was then performed as an evening-length performance incorporating original choreography, script, music composition, and video art.
The plot of Case Study revolves around a woman, Diane Murdock, who is the subject of a case study organized by a group of researchers known as Sector 16. Sector 16 is a mysterious psychology research team that performs case studies on unknowing participants to better understand the complicated human mind. What makes Diane so enticing as a subject is that she has been diagnosed with a long list of behavioral disorders, and more importantly, she never to leaves her house. Sector 16 has full control over Diane’s physical surroundings; however, Diane is oblivious to their presence in her life. Researchers constantly reconstruct her surroundings as a part of the experiment, but Diane is unaware of any such changes. Diane’s day-to-day activities, changes in behavior, and internal psyche are documented through video recordings and written annotations. These video recordings and annotations are logged online and used as major research documentation. Diane’s only direct contact with Sector 16 occurs during her therapy sessions. Diane meets with her therapist, the Primary Investigator of Sector 16, through video conferencing on a daily basis; however, Diane is unaware that her therapist is associated with Sector 16. Diane and her therapist’s therapy sessions offered Diane her most intimate form of human contact, and they served the therapist by giving him another way to analyze Diane.
Other Related Links
Sector 16 website |
| Case Study page on urbanSTEW website |
Photo Gallery