Project Concept
Historically, «new sincerity» emerged as an attempt to break free from the deadlock of postmodern irony: artists and writers spoke seriously again about love, vulnerability, pain, and mortality—while acknowledging cultural codes and games, but without hiding behind cynicism. It was a commitment to genuine feeling, empathy, and universal human values.
In the 21st century, the term migrated into the language of marketing and social media: brands and influencers employ «sincerity» as a strategy. Sincerity transforms into a marketable image, and confession becomes a piece of content in the recommendations feed.
My project explores the transformation of the concept of sincerity in the digital age. Initially, the term «new sincerity» denoted a striving for authentic feelings and unadulterated self-expression. However, over time, it lost its naïveté, morphing into a content marker and a marketing tool—a meticulously calculated strategy where even emotions are adapted to a format.
In my project, I aim to visualize this process of transformation. To do this, I refer to the image of residents of a communal apartment—people with unique stories, personalities, and habits. To each character, I assign a bar of soap, which serves as a metaphor for their individuality: it reflects personal qualities, lifestyle, or specific character traits.
With regular use, soap gradually loses its form, erasing the distinctions between the pieces. Thus, a symbolic model is born—a metaphor for the loss of individuality. Similarly, artificial intelligence smooths out unique characteristics, transforming diversity into an impeccable, yet unified whole. Its touch is gentle, almost imperceptible, but it inevitably leads to refinement and standardization.
This gives rise to a new aesthetic—artificial sincerity brought to a single standard: feelings, emotions, and gestures become uniformly smooth, convenient, and symmetrically polished. Before us, we observe the «soaping of sincerity”—the traces of lost authenticity and vitality in the pursuit of the ideal.
