What if a person is a complex system without a final version?
We are accustomed to reading instructions for technology, but never for ourselves. This project proposes the premise that such an instruction manual does exist. It does not describe a perfect human being, but rather a system that constantly changes, makes mistakes, adapts, and reconstructs its own self.
«The Manual for Human Operation”—an investigative publishing project dedicated to the theme of human identity. At its core is an attempt to describe humanity not through conventional psychological or biographical categories, but through the language of instructions, archives, and technical documentation.The project is built upon the device of alienation: the person is examined as an unknown object, apparatus, or system that must be studied and documented. This perspective allows one to move beyond established notions of personality and re-ask fundamental questions: what constitutes identity, what factors shape it, what makes a person who they are, and can identity even be assigned a definitive definition?The structure of the publication mirrors the logic of a technical manual. „The Operating Instructions“ describes the conditions of human existence—how the person interacts with the environment, society, and the self. „The Glossary of Definitions“ develops the project’s conceptual framework, proposing various methods for describing humanity through key categories. „The Archive of Testimonies“ compiles photographs, texts, and cultural artifacts reflecting the human experience and diverse aspects of identity.The project does not aim to provide a universal definition of identity; rather, it proposes an alternative way of comprehending it.
The project is built around four dimensions of identity: the self, the environment, feelings, and society. These themes run through all sections of the publication, connecting texts, images, and observations into a unified system for studying the human experience. Circles and squares are used in the publication to mark them, as shown above (1 — the self, 2 — the surrounding world, 3 — feelings, 4 — society).
01 — Identity Protocol
Technical guide describing the human as a system and the conditions for shaping their identity.
02 — Glossary
A collection of definitions that offers various ways to understand and describe identity through key concepts.
03 — Portfolio of Testimonials
Archive of photographs, texts, and cultural artifacts reflecting various aspects of human identity.
No single instruction can fully define a person. But every attempt to do so becomes another way to understand how we exist among the world, other people, and ourselves.