World Building: A World Without Reflection

The upper class would be able to afford nicer portraits than the lower class, so here is an example of modern-day celebrities drawn like renaissance figures in order to illustrate the type of portraits that they would commission.

Here is an example of the type of sculpture work that the upper class would pay an artist to make for them.

Lower class families, however, can't afford to buy paintings like the ones above, so mostly they would settle for much simpler family drawn portraits, if they could afford them at all.

Here are the type of portraits that would be drawn in this world in order to preserve precious moments.

In a world without mirrors, hygienic activities such as shaving would have to largely depend on someone else to do it for you.  Here is a portrayal of a wife shaving her husband's face.

Here is an example of a shaving cream ad in our world.  Notice how it is targeted towards women.

Here is the Louvre museum designed out of stone without glass or windows, since neither would exist in this world.

Here is what a typical High School graduation requirements would look like in this world.  Notice the strong emphasis on art and the lack of emphasis on P.E.  Also, notice the emphasis in Social Studies with local history.

High School Graduation Requirements:

Math: 4.0 credits.

Science: 3.0 credits

English: 4.0 credits

Art: 4.0 credits

·     At least one of these credits has to be in sculpture

·     At least one of these credits has to be in Basic Sketching

Social Studies: 3.0 credits.  Required courses:

·        Local History

·        National History

·       World History

Physical Education: 1.0 credits

Electives: 4.0 credits.

Artist Statement

In our world, we reasoned that due to the lack of reflection, there would be an even stronger emphasis on art than what we have in our world.  Artists would be in higher demand because the upper classes would want a depiction of their looks, and since cameras and film doesn't exist in this world, their only way to see themselves would be through a commissioned portrait.  This also means that in this society, artists would be in higher demand.  This can be seen with the high school graduation requirements, which strongly emphasizes art classes because painting and drawing are viable skills in the work force.  Indeed, it would be similar to the Renaissance period where artists were in high demand by rich families because they had the money to commission portraits.  Also, we reasoned that a world without reflection would have a stronger sense of community since the people would have to depend on others in order to know how they look.  This is why products such as shaving cream would be marketed towards women: men would have a harder time shaving their own face without a mirror, so a second party would be required.  Activities such as this would create strong bonds between people, specially within a local community.  While working on this assignment, I was constantly reminded of the work of art such as H.R. Giger and Grant Major, who needed to create fictional worlds for films such as Alien and the Lord of the Rings.  They had to design things that did not exist in our world, such as architecture, costumes, hobbit houses, armor, weapons, etc.  They must have asked themselves the same questions that James and I asked ourselves: how does this society work?  What kinds of artifacts would exist in this world?  Art?  Social structure?  Advertisements?  All of these things have to be considered in order to create a believable world.

     As Bleecker stated in his essay fiction and science can be an amalgamation that depends upon each other. We walk, talk, see, hear, and smell every second of everyday. We absorb our surroundings and our surroundings absorb us. Though what if we weren’t self-aware? What if the only way we could see ourselves is only through the eyes of someone else? In a world with no reflective objects, people would never truly able to see how they actually appear in real time. First off, I wouldn’t have a future career because no pictures, no cameras, and no film. Daily soap operas, nightly news, and Hollywood tabloids are non-existent. No glass means no windows on buildings, and who knows what that would mean for transportation. But what caused this idea to be truly stirring for Steven and I is the effect of not being able to see yourself on your identity. The debate was that self-image would either be completely dependent on the opinions of others, or that ignorance is bliss would prevail. We decided that those that could afford painters and artists would be more self-aware and thus would try to have some sense of fashion. While those that did not have the means to hire someone to paint their annual family portrait would value comfort over appearances. Trying to answer these questions was the biggest and most challenging part of this assignment. And quite frankly I don’t think we have scratched the surface of the deeper questions here. What is identity? Is it something relative to those around you or is it completely independent of everything? Do we see ourselves a certain way because we conform our vision to what society sees us as? One girl I posed this prompt too told me that nothing would matter. “Everything would be the same, and non-distinguishable. Because we classify everything relative to ourselves.”  I don’t think I would go that far. But try to comb through these artifacts and see for yourself, because I don’t know the answer.