Digital identity interviews @ Aberystwyth

Transcript of Rebecca questioning Noyale on her digital identity:

I’d like you to describe yourself to me

Pause. I’m not very tall but I’m not very small. I’m ill. My head is quite ... fizzy. Um ... I like to live in the city. Urr. I like ... not living in the city. I like living in the city, but I like not living in the city? Um. I’m an artist. I’m a mother. I’m a girlfriend. I’m a wife. I’m a granddaughter. I’m a daughter. I’m a sister. I’m a friend. Pause. I feel very different. Pause. I’m self conscious. And I’m in pain.

What does your online presence look like?

Look like? It looks like. Ur. White. White background. Pause. Thats... page ... and a body from another time. A line. More lines. A click of a button. An area of a picture. Pause.

When do you use digital technology?

Everyday.

Where do you use digital technology?

Everywhere. Urrr. Everywhere, on the train, home, the office, rarely in the studio, but sometimes. In bed. Kitchen. In the car. Pause.

How do you use digital technology?

With my fingers. With my hand, my fingers. Sitting or standing. Walking (walks). With my eyes. With my ears. Lying. (Sits down on floor). I think I use it too much. Sometimes, too much.

Transcript of Noyale questioning Rebecca on her digital identity:

Could you describe your online profile?

Um. I have a website, now. Its incomplete. I didn’t want to have one for a long time but now it feels necessary, I’m still not sure about it and I haven’t told anyone about it apart from people who are in it. I have a page on different social networks like facebook, linkedin , academia.edu, National Theatre Wales community and ... a ... a blog called we perform research. Um, a facebook company profile. A blog, several blogs, not public, maybe 3 or 4, discussing collaboration. So quite a big online presence. Plus traces from the past from various site. Comments I might have made on public forums, or records of performances I’ve been in, or conferences I’ve been to. Images from that, or reviews of my work. Um, so, if you looked me up online you would be able to find out quite a lot of information about me; where I live, maybe you could work out my age, see what I looked like. I’m quite careful and private. For example, with facebook my privacy settings are really high, and only friends can see my profile, but just contacts cant, they can see my very limited profile. I don’t like people writing on my facebook wall because I’d rather they messaged me privately. Um. And then after a while I delete things so they only stay present for a while. Sometimes I delete comments I’ve made in other places, because its feels like its past, and I don’t want a record to still be there. Um. But I like it, its nice to click a button and see people and see how they are, and make contact when you are feeling a bit isolated sometimes. And when there was the disaster in Japan last year it was really good because I could immediately see, send messages and say are you ok? And my friends said I’m ok. This is what’s happening. I felt like I had a sense of what was happening through that.

My website is, presents a certain image of me. I’ve thought about why I have it and who I want to look at it and what it’s there for. So it’s carefully edited, the image are carefully edited so I can come across in a certain way. I like it, it’s quite nostalgic looking at it. It reminds me of things I have done and I think ok I’ve done that. Um, it’s hard to remove yourself.... from somethings ... I hate that.

Can you describe your physical profile?

My body?

Your physical profile.

So by my physical profile I think you mean my ... physical profile in the flesh... so I’m small. 4 foot 11. When I’ve got shoes on. Otherwise I’m about 4 foot 10 and a half. Um. Slimish. But not thin. Um. Quite well proportioned. White. Pale. Blonde hair. Hair is frizzy or curly depending on if I’m by the sea or in a city. Dark eyebrows, sharp bone structure. Pointy nose, small lips. Green blue eyes depending on the light, but brown speckles. Um. Small feet. 3 and a half. My weight changes depending on how strong I am and what time of the month it is. Around 7 stone. If I entered a room I think my physical presence would be quite small. I don’t think ... because I’m quite reserved I don’t think I have a strong physical presence. So I feel a bit, invisible I suppose. But I think... mmmm... that version of me would be different. But I don’t feel invisible, I feel quite big (spreads arms) and my family would say I’m quite loud, and my partner would say I talk too much. (Moves hands) I’m probably the loudest in my family, the entertainer, the joker, the one who fills in the silences. So, my profile is quite big. I like to keep everyone together and keep the peace. Pause. Um, my physical profile in terms of ... I’m an artist, a writer, a researcher ... wife, partner, friend, daughter, sister, future mother maybe ... I ... I’m a dancer, an actor, a performer. A thinker, a reader. I write poetry sometimes. A gardener, philosopher, vegan activist...sometimes. I like the sea and open spaces and big skies, and ... I like the city. I like sitting in cafes on my own in the city and watching people, and I like to walk away from it all and come back to the sea. I like to be on my own. But I like to be with people too. And ... I’m 31. And I, I like living in Wales, but I don’t feel Welsh, whatever that means. Physical presence? Pause.

Profile

Profile. Physical profile. My physical profile in terms of traces. If I disappeared what would remain? There’s quite a lot of medical records. I’ve been quite ill. I had bad childhood asthma and nearly didn’t survive. So throughout my childhood I was in and out of hospital, so there will alot of medical records and I’ll always have some kind of medical complaint. Whether it be my neck or my asthma or something else. Physical profile here in this community, in Aberystwyth. People see people when they are around, they might not know you, but you know that 'that’s that person that walks up and down the seafront in the evenings' or something like this.

Describe your homepage

My homepage. It looks simple, I have a ... (gestures) webpage with different sections: about me, gallery, projects, teaching and contact, I think. And only two of the pages are finished. And that’s the gallery and about me. So the others say ‘under construction’. Waiting until I see what I want to say about myself. Um. The gallery [points toes and moves leg around] has got some images spanning back through time, so it stays with the most recent and goes back to about 2003 [gestures]. Alot of it is work with Kaitaisha so the images are quite dark, but other projects, like the ones in the environment are nice and bright images. Images of people moving in space, and theatre spaces. ... Some images I wanted to find but I couldn’t find them so they are not there which is a shame. ....

Can you describe your home?

My home? Um. [looks at feet]. I think of my parents home and my home with my husband as my two homes because I go to my parents home alot. So, my home. [Starts to move in space as if in home] like this as you enter [gestures throughout as if pointing to what she is describing]. You have the coats here, the chest of draws, the kitchen, in the kitchen; the cooker, the sink, the microwave, the kettle, the table – the table was my grandmas – and the chairs – I always see myself sat around it at my grandmas, the window and the net curtains, and the seaview. Sometimes when you have that nice winter light, the net curtains cast a shadow across the wall, and it moves in the wind and its really beautiful. Then you come out of the kitchen in to the hall, it’s a small space. The lounge, the sofa there, the chairs, my desk, Pauls paintings, family photos, books – lots of books – about 800 books. The window, big sea view. Then, the hallway, bathroom, I see things that irritate me in the bathroom, some damp, it’s always dirty. Then the bedroom, bed. New bed. Pauls desk, which is also a sewing machine that was my grandmas, my other grandmas. When you open it it smells like her. His computer. Big chest of drawers, a dresser, and that was my other grandmas, and again I can just see that in her dining room in her house, and used to be just covered in stuff. A chest of drawers that was my grandpas, I painted it white. Windows, curtain, wardrobe. That’s my house by the sea. My parents house is my home in the sense that I feel at home there, I still have some things there, not many, but I keep pyjamas there. So yeah. Up the driveway, it’s a 1930’s house. Porch, sliding doors, enter, hallways, staircase, upstairs, small bathroom, my parents bedroom, the room that I sleep in when I stay. Single bed, sofa bed. Then small bedroom that has a small bed in. Downstairs, door in front of you – lounge, dining room, kitchen – small kitchen. And lots of memories. Lots of pictures of me as a child. Its quite dark, there is usually someone around. And. I mean I learned to walk in that house I was bathing my nieces in the bath a few weeks ago and they are the same age as me and my sister, the same age apart – 22 months and we bathed in that bath at the same age, and it’s really strange to think of that history repeating again. Garden out the back, two sheds, lots of old things.