Storyboard: Excess, computer-generated

The Excess Storyboard was created during the COVID-19 pandemic, in which people had to pivot and imagine new ways of using new media for learning, information gathering, social interaction and work. The many young faces looking back at me are thus also a representation of who I am. Language, culture, and location reverberate as digital waves. The study participants and I shared the same cultural background, spoke the same languages, had similar interests, belonged to similar online communities, and were all relying on new media while experiencing lockdown in the same physical location: Melbourne. This created a strong Melbourne experience; the bond may have been different, or weaker, if I had invited participants from other destinations outside of Greece. In terms of excess, the space between me and the participants represents the information that is yet unknowable. I am looking into the mirror but am confronted with the images of the participants, who exemplify and reveal parts of myself – some parts that I have experienced, and others that I am compelled to question regarding my identity as a Greek migrant to Australia. In this research study, I was compelled to look back on my migration experience, and my participants to look forward as new migrants whose lives have taken root in Australia.