http://alumni.media.mit.edu/~lew/research/voodoo/
Because we are looking at Media that can be manipulated by the audience I decided to pick a piece with a similar idea but that approaches the concept in a different way. While Sims work displays 3D graphics that change on screen due to the interaction of the audience, Michael Lew also creates a work that changes on screen but in a different way. Lew’s piece entitled “Office Voodoo” allows the viewers to manipulate two voodoo dolls in order to influence the mood of two characters in the video playing on screen.
By changing the dolls you change the interaction between the people in the movie. Frank and Nancy, the characters in the film, can go through a range of emotions that will effect their expression as well as their treatment of each other. The installation is in an interesting environment because it is housed in a wooden arcade-like structure. There is room for only two people to sit on the bench inside the artworks encasement. Because of this set up it seems as if you are in fact playing a video game.
What I find most interesting about the explanation found on this site is the honestly about how people react to the work. It states that the situations that occur can sometimes cause the audience, the inflictor, to be ashamed that their character would act in this way although they are the cause of it. The work actually places some of the responsibility of what happens in the storyline on the audience.
Make sure you check out the video because it is hard to get an idea of how the process works if you cannot see it on screen.
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Interactivity, especially for online applications or works of art, is a huge plus. It keeps the viewer interested, and it also gives off a certain vibe that the artwork is unique for every single person, every single view. Not one experience is exactly the same as a result of the interactivity and process. How the entire game/application plays out can also affect what the viewer does next. It's a giant circle that has revolutionized digital artwork and usage.
ReplyDeleteThe voodoo concept is excellent. I see it as a giant metaphor of digital interactivity in general. The online characters react to decisions made by the viewer, who in turn make more decisions based on the reaction of the characters. The entire process makes people become more familiar with works, rather than becoming distant.
Audience manipulated media covers a wide range of digital works. Even flash development, such as the stuff I do for my portfolio, website is encompassed. Viewers feel like they become more connected if the media they are viewing is more dynamic. It reaches a wider range of feelings.
Wow, I find the depth in concept development of “Office Voodoo” to be extremely impressive. Due to the nature of this “game” the participant becomes split between different levels of reality. Hence possibly evoking feelings of dislike, embarrassment, or otherwise toward the dolls that they are controlling, easily forgetting that it is because of them that such an event could occur. As a whole Office Voodoo turns out to be a complete psychological trap, existing at a level much deeper than the Sims could ever achieve. With the Sims it is true that more customization and personalization is possible, but it is because of that that the Sims could be used as a tool to solve anger management rather than a tool to redirect the user’s thought process.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing!