THERÉSE HALLBERG’S CABINET LETS YOU CHOOSE HOW MUCH TO REVEAL

IRL vs. Social Media Reflections

IRL vs. Social Media Reflections is a project by Therése Hallberg. A third year student at Beckman’s College of Design in Stockholm, Hallberg’s project was shown as part of the “Wrong Place Wrong Time” exhibition at the Stockholm Furniture Fair. The cabinet explores the changes in how we present ourselves in real live versus when we are hiding behind a screen.

In person, not everyone can be taken at face value, but it’s often more difficult to be inauthentic. However, social media allows (or perhaps encourages?) us to be selective with the information that we diffuse. We can emphasize and leave out whatever we desire, sometimes building up an idealized version of ourselves and our life. Hallberg’s cabinet does much the same.

A toned filter lets the user render the cabinet entirely transparent or completely opaque, choosing what to show and what to hide. Simultaneously, the rounded frame exemplifies the “the illusion of a life in perfect balance”. It is a physical rendition of what we experience as social interaction today and what it will potentially continue to be in the future.