Sep 3, 2024 6:00 PM
To be confirmed
Cancelled

Grillz in the Digital Sphere: Constructing Identity Beyond Materiality

Grillz in the Digital Sphere: Constructing Identity Beyond Materiality

Panel:
[NTO] Communication, Culture, Society (chaired by Anna Cisło)
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Speaker:
Asia Bertoli
University of Turin
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Grillz, artifacts that derive from functional dental prostheses, have evolved into potent symbols of cultural identity and status, notably within hip-hop culture but also across broader societal contexts. This investigation employs and goes beyond Umberto Eco's framework on prostheses to scrutinize the semiotic importance of grillz, positioning them as magnificative prosthetic hypoicons that augment the communicative action of the wearer, and manifest the subject’s agency beyond the simple accessory. Building upon Eco's model, this study introduces the broad notion of identity performativity, shedding light on how individuals deploy grillz as performative cues to assert and negotiate their identities within social physical and digital spheres. Through an examination of historical antecedents of dental embellishment and modifications, alongside contemporary iterations of grillz, this inquiry underscores their role in challenging prevailing norms and reclaiming agency over self-presentation, particularly within post-slavery and post-colonial communities. Furthermore, this research probes the digital domain's influence on the normalization and reinterpretation of grillz, emphasizing their integration into everyday aesthetics and fashion via social media platforms. The online constructed persona facilitates a re-signification of grillz that transcends materiality, which was its main characteristic. The study of digital identity and face-centered self-presentation via grillz involves an exploration of post-humanity alongside the new digital variations of the human-animal/non-human animal dichotomy. By scrutinizing grillz as emblematic artifacts of hip-hop culture and channels of identity enactment, this study enriches our comprehension of the intricate interplay among material objects, cultural customs, and digital interfaces in shaping contemporary expressions of political and cultural post-colonial identities.

Location:
2.158 room, WLS (Dobra 55 street)

Explore Sessions

02
September
9:30
-
10:30
Location:
Mickiewicz Hall, Auditorium Maximum (Krakowskie Przedmiescie 26/28 str.)
Congress events
Opening Ceremony

September 2, 2024
Congress events
Mickiewicz Hall, Auditorium Maximum (Krakowskie Przedmiescie 26/28 str.)
02
September
10:30
-
11:30
Location:
Mickiewicz Hall, Auditorium Maximum (Krakowskie Przedmiescie 26/28 str.)
From Signs of Language to Semioses of Life: Paradigms and Turns in Global Semiotics

September 2, 2024
Mickiewicz Hall, Auditorium Maximum (Krakowskie Przedmiescie 26/28 str.)
02
September
11:30
-
12:15
Location:
Australia Hall, WLS (Dobra 55 street)
Catering
Coffee break [catering]

September 2, 2024
Catering
Australia Hall, WLS (Dobra 55 street)
Asia Bertoli