| Bluebeard's
command "make her my wife" is both violent and authoritative,
recognisable as a sequential anchor relating to the traditional version.
Those participants familiar with the original text will realise that next,
the wife will be presented with keys to his castle, and then she will disobey
his order and use them to enter a private room, whereby finally, her husband
murders her for her this betrayal. In the original version, the use of red
is especially important as when the wife finally enters the forbidden chamber
she drops the keys in fright into a pool of blood from her mutilated predecessors
-- his previous wives. This created a strong sense of history repeating
itself, the sins of her sisters (sister in the feminist sense) is repeated
once more by her inability to refuse this curiosity. The blood on the keys
is the vehicle of her downfall, as, magically, it cannot be washed off.
It is also the only significant magical event in the tale (otherwise the
story could be a straight depiction of a serial killer). |
| The
narrative conclusion |
| Within
my conclusion sequences I do not place the wife in the vulnerable position
of being a victim of such magic. Rather, I allow the participant to take
her role on as an explorer of the castle and the opener of the chamber.
Once within this forbidden space, I do not allow the wife/participant to
drop their keys in a state of "fright". Unlike the original character,
she is stronger. |
| |
"…She
is the hero. The protagonist determines her own destiny, through the interaction
of the participant. Leishman, in effect, empowers both the female protagonist
and the participant, by allowing them to act as the determining force behind
their own destinies." [Olshefski
2003  ] |
| I
make another significant narrative intervention at this point. By the time
the participant enters the chamber, s/he may have identified the story and
therefore have an expectation of the outcome. Whether this is so or not,
there are two courses of action open. Perhaps fearing imminent death for
the wife, the participant can click the decreasing blue window, which is
the link to the outside world. This allows her to depart as Bluebeard's
previous wives have done. Alternatively, remaining, either out of curiosity
or sympathy for the Bluebeard, removes you from the wife's role back to
being the voyeur. You then witness their union -- they take each other's
hands and depart into the unknown -- narratively un-chartered future. These
endings are more positive and empowered than the original -- in that you,
as the wife, are given a choice, you are not a passive "lamb to the
slaughter". |
| |
"…Ambiguity
is where the piece finds its power. The endings can either be read as two
separate realities or as two parts of same reality…In either case she
is a survivor. The husband and his former wives are locked in this bloody
chamber, inanimate and it is the protagonist who has the power to save them
from this state of being."
[Olshefski 2003 ]
|
| As
well as offering a new interpretation of this story, I have utilised the
possibilities that are on offer to the interactive participant. With The
Bloody Chamber the participant is the enactor of the multi perspectives,
at times becoming the Bluebeard, the wife, a vehicle and interpreter of
the combined perspectives, and the narrator of the project. This last point
is because they chose their sequential path and the final outcome. The variety
of narrative perspectives gives a depth to the work; depth is also mirrored
formally as the participant can choose to "Zoom" into or out of
the story environment. |
| The
practice of creating interactive experiences is sited in harnessing the
participant's curiosity -- their interest in what lies beneath the initial
static layer of a project. Curiosity can be turned into a desire to learn
more and to reach a conclusion. An empowered curiosity mirrors the actions
of the original protagonist and for which she met her death or near-death,
hopefully this will make the interactive re-interpretation of this particular
narrative even more poignant for the participant. |
| |
| The
Bloody Chamber has been shown at the Glasgow Art Fair -- represented
by the Centre For Contemporary Arts, Glasgow (2002), the Re-Animate Web
Festival, Rotterdam (2003). Online at the Barcelona Online Flash Film
Festival: Interactive Section (2003). It also appeared as a linear edit
at the Boston Cybertarts Festival: M.I.T Media wall (2003), and as
a selected contribution at the PlayEngines, DAC exhibition, Melbourne,
Australia (2003), where it won the streaming media section prize and was
acquired by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image into the public programs
permanent collection. |
 |
| 2.0.3
The preparatory practice -- synthesis |
As
detailed above, both the projects The
Bloody Chamber
and to a lesser extent Angel
Interceptor
were created as preparatory studies for Deviant
 , which in turn was
specifically developed to answer the research question: "How does the
artist develop an interactive style and visual vocabulary, which evokes
rich responses from the participant whilst challenging them to counter conventional
interaction tropes?" What follows is a synthesis of Angel Interceptor's
and The Bloody Chamber's findings: |
| |
| 1. |
By
using visual metaphors (e.g. windows and doors) that refer to spatial concerns
such as inside / outside. Inside represents core, deep, personal and secret
spaces, while outside equates with surface, appearances, shells and superficiality.
This places participants in multifaceted locations that allow them to see
the inner psychologies in relation to the externally perceptible characteristics
of the dual protagonists (The Bloody Chamber) and the worldscape;
this it seems can promote a sense of immersion. |
| 2. |
By
depicting a certain level of media self-awareness e.g. using CCTV screens
and computer monitors as part of the fabric of Bluebeard's world. This emphasises
that there may be unseen content, that is, the view and vantage points are
chosen from several options. However, within The Bloody Chamber,
the navigation system of the extreme zooming in and out method allows the
participant to explore the scale of the isolation of the presented world
in that there are no other geographies, there is nothing out of shot. This
reinforces the melancholy tension of the piece. |
| 3. |
Within
the above projects, a new aspect of a visual vocabulary presented itself
in the intentionally leaden nature of the animation and movement of the
artwork. What was also forthcoming was the problematic nature of a clearly
subjective gestural rendering style (more so The Bloody Chamber than
Angel Interceptor). I felt that the drawing style in its idiosyncrasy
blocked a reading of the landscape where the world could be seen as being
in part universal or familiar. Instead, The Bloody Chamber gives
almost complete emphasis to the foreign and alien. If the drawing style
was more iconic, this would create a mix of the familiar and the foreign
(as found in RedRidingHood
 ), I propose this ideas-in-conflict
quality helps generate an atmosphere of friction or disturbance, which is
turn, promotes participant-led enquiries. |
| 4. |
A
manifest source narrative allows for narrative anchors to be devised. This
can allow the participant to explore around these anchors and direct the
sequence to reflect which aspects of the project they find more interesting,
e.g. the inhabitants or the architecture of the buildings, whilst still
retaining a feeling of being within an enfolding narrative. This method
of self-direction is sustained throughout The Bloody Chamber. However,
the drag-able aspect to the navigation did not fully achieve the effect
that I wanted (i.e. participants interacting in a more reflective and subtle
manner), as I felt it interrupted the perception of the visuals (as often
the project could get literally lost off screen). This caused significant
irritation. |
| 5. |
The
above projects also revealed to me that the participant experience is at
least as important as the structural complexity or level of non-linearity. |
| |
Unlike
The Bloody Chamber, Deviant (see below) will use a little
known or unknown source text. This adds another layer of disorientation
for the participant and as such Deviant will use another approach
in igniting the participant' s interest. Deviant will further emphasize
the participant's interpretation and relationship with the narrative protagonists,
the usage of secret spaces; the development of detailed non-photographic
(Chapter
1 Hegemonies  )
narrative environments; to give eminence to an emotional atmosphere and
to use enmeshed narrative anchors. |
|
2.1.
Deviant: The Possession of Christian Shaw
(32
week project completed Jan 2004) |
| A
clean slate |
| You,
the participant, are advised to participate with the artwork Deviant:
The Possession of Christian Shaw first, that is, before reading the
following comments, notes on productions, artist own critique and interpretations
from the invited expert participants. This, it is felt, will allow you to
experience your self-led interpretations and emotional responses before
reading how the others traversed and interpretated the project. Participating
with the project from a position of unawareness is in keeping with the project'
s inherent structural multiplicity and specific conceptual underpinning.
|
| |
| Deviant:
The Possession of Christian Shaw |
| Please
note: those using Mac, screen resolution 1024 x768 please make sure the
new external browser window is fullscreen before you proceed with the project. |
| |
|
|
|
2.1.1
Introduction
Deviant: The Possession of Christian Shaw |
| As
mentioned above
the project Deviant was created to answer the research question "How
does the artist develop an interactive style and visual vocabulary, which
evokes rich responses from the participant whilst challenging them to counter
conventional interaction tropes?" which was in turn devised from my
investigation into the specific
research context .
As mentioned earlier (Literature
Review )
in the thesis the area of interactivity within narrative forms is the subject
of many different domains, far more than I cover. Cybertext, hypermedia
(hypertext fiction), new media art and Human Computer Interaction (HCI [1])
are the relevant theoretical fields which my practice is positioned between.
|
| |
| The
most useful field from the practice led perspective is HCI. The others,
in the main, discuss the theory, social (participant centric) potential
of the artefacts, and the formal aspects such as structure and programmatics,
whereas HCI sits in the opposite territory where the theoretical issues
are required but HCI is mostly applied in the practice e.g. designing commercial
graphical user interfaces for websites or computer applications. |
| |
| Interestingly,
and I propose this as an indication of the innovation of the presented practice,
the practice led HCI field is something this research refutes and reacts
against. This is not because I think the HCI is flawed. Far from it, HCI
is essential in delivering coherent computer to human experiences, but art
does not always follow the path of least resistance. Rather in this research,
I am exploring and presenting emotional experiences that are intrinsically
and importantly anti intuitive, that are "difficult". My methods
of researching i.e.
through practice, observation and reading, sits uncomfortably within each
of the above domains, though this is the very reason I believe my practice
is relevant to all of them. This maker-led perspective adds a different
practice led voice to the arguments. |
| |
| This
project follows on from The
Bloody Chamber
(May 2002) and to a lesser extent Angel
Interceptor (March
2001) in terms of aesthetic language and structure. It is presented as the
substantive portion of practice within this study. Unlike The Bloody
Chamber and my Masters project RedRidingHood
(December 2000),
it relies on a little known and historically rooted narrative
. This is a departure
from my practice in the sense that the participant is presented with a wholly
unknown narrative environment. The title may suggest the thematic landscapes,
but it is also a misnomer i.e. the name Christian implies a male character,
while in fact the protagonist is a young girl. For those participants familiar
with my work, this duality is a consistent quality of my practice. |
| |
| The
method
of creating the artwork
and the way I obtained critical reactions was new. Firstly, I chose not
to track my process via a daily or weekly logbook but rather opted to collate
the technical and artistic notes combined with the equivalent sketchbook
digital files
as they were created. These would be reviewed at the end of the project.
Secondly, to help with the critique, I chose to set up a group of expert
participants
for the project. These participants were asked to explore, reflect
and review the completed practice; this high calibre feedback is used in
collaboration with my own previously elucidated insights. This method will
allow for three tracks of writing around the project: my own as the author
"insider", those of the diverse external participants "outsiders",
and the integrated interwoven comments, thus balancing the subjective and
objective viewpoints. |
|
| 2.1.2
Practice as preparatory sketches |
| The
following pieces of practice were created both in the months leading up
to the start of this project's production and as conscious line tests or
visual maquettes for the final project. |
| Tekka
Preview |
| Various
Visual and Responsive Roughs |
|
| 2.1.3
Onscreen aesthetics |
| In
Chapter 1 (My
Aesthetic )
I defined the nature of my aesthetic in terms of being familiar, foreign
or abstract. Such features are primary in setting up an responsive exchange
with the participant. These visuals unlike found in print and filmic media,
have behavioural characteristics. They have ways of responding to an interaction
at what I like to describe as a micro, mid and macro levels. At the micro
level, the minutiae of the interaction are important, the participant is
focused on understanding the sole unit in question, e.g. understanding how
a particular flower moves at a pixel level (the smallest unit of onscreen
representation) in response to your onscreen touch. At the mid level, the
assessing of the characteristic is in relation to the prior responses found
within the specific project (this is especially important on any re-readings
of a project). At the macro level, what is important is reviewing how the
combined micro and mid responses sit within what has been experienced before
in the previous artworks from both the practitioner and indeed other artists.
This marco level is based within the larger media context. |
What
follows below is a list of specific notions or criteria that relate to the
visual aspect of the project.
These ideas were developed at Deviant' s inception. |
| |
| 1. |
Deviant
was to be an animated drawing, as opposed to animation; this would give
a sense of difference [2]. |
| 2. |
Deviant
would follow on from my other practice by attempting to foster a sense of
intimacy. The feeling is highlighted by the proposed viewing platform of
the personal computer within the Internet. This works by an unusual oxymoronic
sense of remoteness and connectivity, in that the participant has a sense
of physical closeness to the artwork. For example, they can spend as little
or as much time with it as they wish, they explore it in a welcoming environment
-- at home or at work -- rather than say in an art gallery or museum. But
in contrast, my authorial control is remote, because I do not conventionally
re-interpret or clearly present the narrative -- the structural access to
the project is not stable like that of a book or a film. In the latter aspect
the participant may feel acutely individualized as they alone must explore,
experience and attempt to create meaning from an artwork that is unconventional.
I propose that this individualised autonomy creates an even further closeness
to the work.
.
This lone exploration from the participant has parallels with my characterisation
of the protagonist: she is portrayed as being lonely and as a vacant shell,
hollow as she is fictive, thus referring to the loneliness of the participant
who explores the project. |
| 3. |
Deviant
would be rendered by detailed hand drawing and patterns. This would give
a sense of both sensuousness and preciousness as experienced by the quality
of the line combined with the movement, colour and sound. The resulting
onscreen image is touchable, conveying an illusion of tangibility
. This technique
is employed rather than using the quicker intrinsic software line tools.
|
| 4. |
In
the totality of the project, Deviant was devised as one picture,
one prescribed landscape in which things appear, grow, retract, and evolve.
Another way to describe it is as a series of tableaux -- frozen moments
in which narrative events can be drawn out by coaxing interactions. Another
notion is Deviant as a wind-up visual musical box, in which special
precious things lie. |
| 5. |
Deviant
was to be an experiment in creating both narratively visual transformations
(as a type of multiple state) and interpretative transformations, e.g. questioning
of the "truth" of what is seen and understood after the epilogue
text .
|
| 6. |
Deviant
would follow on from my other practice by continuing to show hybrid representations
both familiar and unreal, setting an upfront malapropos relationship with
the participant. |
| |
| Onscreen
participant position |
| In
tandem with designing the visual character of the project, consideration
must be given to the anticipated participant position -- what is asked of
the participant when confronted by the visual media. What follows below
is a list of specific design decisions that relate to the participant positions.
These were devised at Deviant' s inception. |
| |
| 1. |
Deviant
was designed to push both the interpretation of the visual space, and the
role of the participant. Thus the physical fullscreen nature of the project
was devised (rather than reducing -- suffusing memory load, see HCI golden
rule 8 [1]).
This large fullscreen format demands more memory and attention as the participant
attempts to comprehend the picture plane and its meaning
[3]. |
| 2. |
The
project enables the receivers to become naïve participants in that
it is set up to be different to what they have experienced before, thus
eliciting a unique personal experience. This comes from the multiple differences,
such as unique visual appearance; the nature of the structure designed into
the artwork; movement style; and the absence of back button or a help menu
etc… The project's intention is to be dramatically surprising and provide
initial and problematic differences in relation to what the participant
will expect, this feeling of unexpectedness or mystery [4]
is sustained throughout. |
| 3. |
The
feeling of "danger" is presented to the participant when exploring
the project. This comes in main from the fact that there is no going back
to previous tableaux (defying the HCI golden rule number 6: provide easy
reversal of actions
[1]). This
back tracking or usage of a back button is often standard with hypertext
fiction and games [*]. Deviant experimentally
defies this convention to encourage a focused attention on the presented
material. It is anticipated that this attention leads the participant to
being sensitised to the slow moving non-cosseted pace of the unconventional
animation
[2],
the project aims to promote contemplation, dreaming, wondering, and thinking
non-hierarchically about the presented MSE
. |
| 4. |
The
project is intentionally frustrating, reflecting the notion that the events
are "trapped in history", trapped in historical texts. The character
of Christian cannot be physically helped and I do not present other more
positive outcomes. Instead I have designed the project to utilise the participant's
frustration as a springboard in which they realise the horrors and travesty
of the story. |
| 5. |
The
above features could be seen to be destructive for any authored intentions,
suggesting that only participants who enjoy confusion or ambiguity should
be the participants. These hardships are offset by the weight given to the
participants' interactions. Once the participant has overcome the conditioned
instincts that their actions should reveal narratively key reactions, and
that they do not have the safety net of going back, they are free to touch,
tickle, and play with the layered images. Within the project there are hundreds
of tiny moveable parts that await such investigations. |
| 6. |
Similarly,
the participant has autonomy over much of the project's
timing
(see further below). In this sense the participant is more an explorer of
detail where touching and gentle prodding is the method to progress instead
of aggressive point and clicks. Without the participant, the project would
lie dormant and frozen on the first tableau. |
| |
| Narrative
base |
| This
historical but fictive depiction
of the world is inspired by the idea that very little is known about Scottish
society in 1696. Historians of the Early Modern Period are split over ideas
of how rural communities would have worked because there is a lack of primary
source materials. Some believe that the communities lived in enclosed socio-political
bubbles, where they would not have heard much news of the larger social
changes at hand, others believe that the communities were in fact aware
and furthermore influenced by the changing political and theological concerns,
thus they would be a mixed belief community, combining pagan, beltane, catholic,
protestant, and atheist communities [Cowan 2003]. Both of these ideas inspired
the portrayal of the narrative world. Deviant is like the latter,
a mixed visual code of different historical times and refers to mixed belief
systems [5],
but then contrastingly is enclosed and limited -- the participant never
gets to explore anywhere past the set horizons. What follows below is a
list of specific aspects of the design in relation to the founding and base
narrative text. |
| |
| 1. |
I
designed the title to read as: Deviant: The Possession of Christian Shaw.
This was devised both as a thematic indictor and also to highlight the subject
matter e.g. "Christian" as a man/boy, "Christian" as
woman/girl, or possibly "Christian" as an adjective relating to
Christianity. Another reading may link the church to the term "deviance".
The term "possession" has connotations of mental illness and/or
supernatural acts of foreign control. |
| 2. |
History
as fiction. The historical account was written by an anonymous author, thus
arguably turning the narrative
into a work of
un-interpretable fiction as the historical author may or may not have been
a first hand witness. The narrative turned fiction is in itself now deviant,
allowing for creative closure and personal interpretations. This notion
links to the larger argument of society's belief in history as irrefutable
truth. Within this situation a historical distortion is also found within
the contemporary "living memory" of Christian Shaw, who is mainly
seen as a tainted and manipulative child and not as a heroine of the Church
(the view presented at the time of the said events). |
| 3. |
The
project refers to applicable grand narratives such as the New England Salem
witch trails; Arthur Miller's play Crucible [6],
and the political association with the term "witch-hunt". It also
has links to historical horror and pulp archetypes of malevolent or evil
children e.g. Damien in the book /film The Omen (also a demoniac)
[7]. Other associated narratives can also
be found, such as the folklore surrounding the Scottish witch trials (especially
the feminist discussions [8]),
and my back catalogue of practice that speaks to female archetypes and hybrid
meanings
[9]. |
| 4. |
As
the title suggests, the project alludes to larger social notions of deviance
e.g. gender, behavioural stereotypes. It also attempts to elicit sympathy
from the participant towards the character of Christian, by imaginatively
but literally showing the events. The extra narratively
digressive content
is a symbiosis of how I as the author feel about the characters, together
with my imagining of what kind of perspective of the world she would have
taken. |
| 5. |
From
the base narrative I found the notion of naïvety interesting, Christian
only being a ten-year-old would be naïve to the larger world. We are
naïve to the "truth" of the story. The participant is naïve
in the exploratory sense. With naïvety I link the notion of innocence,
and with innocence comes a dark undercurrent, the risk of a lost innocence.
Within the project there is sense of something wrong, a melancholy. She,
like many children, is insecure, fragile and curious, deserving of protection
from the surrounding adults. This "wrong" trickles down from the
deceptive anonymity of the tale. |
| |
| Onscreen
time |
| Time
is treated in six different ways within Deviant
[10]. |
| 1. |
Historical
time is present where older folklore imagery is mixed with the modern, or
even with futuristic elements. For example, there are skyscrapers or tenement
flats with the representation of the invisible devils (inspired from European
16th century woodcut illustrations [11]).
Similarly the use of historical dates and events in the Reverend Brisbane's
journal refer to a larger bank of media representations of the period e.g.
The New England Salem Witch Trials or English Renaissance literature. |
| 2. |
Literal
and present time occurs within the project. This type of time is entirely
controlled by the participant. It is represented by the time taken to explore,
the time taken to play. In the project there are no timeouts (i.e. when
the artist programs events to occur even if the participant doesn't find
and instigate them). |
| 3. |
There
are elements of frozen time, as found represented in the alarm clocks. These
clocks are used within the first tableau [12]
as safety catches or visual prompts, as most people, if lost, will press
the customary clock. Another form of frozen or suspended time occurs on
any re-readings of the project, as re-readings will reveal perhaps different
interpretations, but the artwork and events are the same. The result is
a re-enforcing the notion that the events are "trapped in history." |
| 4. |
Narrative
time is used within the project, for example the changing seasons are shown
by the sensitively changing colour hues of the landscape. This ties both
to the narrative source, and the feeling of other worldliness as the changing
colours indicate that the months fly by. |
| 5. |
Embedded
or nested time can be found in the form of looping animations
[13]. These interaction-enabled events vary
between looping a set number of times and stopping, or looping endlessly
until the participant moves forward in the project. This type of time is
an experiment in giving the participant a sense of the world coming anthropomorphically
alive and active after their onscreen touch. |
| 6. |
Least
frequent of all the depictions of time is random time. There are programmed
random objects within the pop-in
framed narratives
of Christian's possessions (in tableau two
[14]). These are presented in a randomised
manner, giving another sense of timing, a sense of being "other"
in contrast to the set linear content of the buildings and Christian. The
objects add to the supernatural quality of the sequences, as they refer
to no natural sense of time or place within the rest of the project. |
| To
summarise, the uniqueness of experiencing "time" in this artwork
in terms of other mediums (films, novels, performances) supports the preposition
that artwork exists in a hybrid position. |
| |
| Onscreen
structures |
| Another
fundamental aspect of the visual telling of the project is the structuring
of the content. Structure within responsive media in a sense acts as the
method of delivery for sequence, even if it is set up as anti-sequential.
What follows below is a list of specific notions that relate to the structuring
of the images. These were devised at Deviant's inception. |
| |
| 1. |
The
world is structured in layers or levels, which overlap on top of the first
scene. This stacking is in opposition to the conventional animation or film
that uses a time-based method where the narrative is played in frames, which
are shown in succession (for further discussion see
[15]). Instead, the world is presented as
something different. This difference is again an attempt at placing the
participant in another unconventional position. It also enforces again the
picture opposed to animation analogy. The addition of layers adds and evolves
the main composition. These layers are combined with bursts of traditional
animated sections, to sustain the mixed up unpredictable nature of the project. |
| 2. |
The
project has an enmeshed but narratively linear path plotted to a narrative
skeleton (see below). Outside of this skeleton the project contains many
interactive digressions or interruptions to the story. Digressions are the
spaces in which the extra emotion and sensual explorations exist. These
areas are loosely narrative when associated with the base story. The skeleton
or frame acts as a suture co-joining the various multi linear perspectives,
conditional links and the participant's awareness that they are in a narrative
environment. The skeleton protects against total disjuncture in the project. |
| |
| The
narrative skeleton |
| The
digressive spaces and non-narrative experiences have been taken out the
diagram below. What then is seen is the stripped down spine of the narrative
which correlates to the source text's seasonal timeline and dramatic events.
For narrative purposes, tableau 5 and 5B function the same. |
 |
| |
| 3. |
The
participant's experience of the project does not initially reveal the plot
[16].
First is an accumulative experience of atmosphere. Dissonance strikes, but
after awhile, although coming from a position of ignorance, the participant
absorbs the available narrative content and also actively explores the world.
They continuously search for the hidden [17].
|
| |
Secondly,
and towards the end of their first reading, participants cognitively construct
the information they have experienced in a process similar to Murray's understanding
of "immersion"
[18]; at this stage they may or may not
begin to form an interpretation. |
| |
Thirdly,
once they have reached the epilogue text, and if they re-enter the project,
a further round of atmospheric accumulation occurs. |
| |
This
is unlike experiencing other narrative forms. For example, structurally,
the participant's experience of the project does not work like games, which
often use the model of increasing the difficulty of the participants' tasks
as they move through its structure. Nor does it use a cinematic three-act
structure i.e. beginning, middle and end
[16]. Instead in Deviant
the participant is required to re-enter the project (preferably multiple
times) to gain their own sense of conclusion. |
| |
| To
reiterate, Deviant, instead of offering a concluding elucidation
at the end of a first reading, places the participant into an additional
atmospheric and emotional accumulative experience. Thus Deviant works
on: |
| 1. |
Initial
atmospheric accumulation (emotive). |
| 2. |
Cognitive
stitching of the available information gained along a personal path. By
this I mean becoming less confused. |
| 3. |
Re-reading,
creating another more informed emotional accumulation (emotive). |
| |
| 1-
2- 3 is then repeated until the participant has perceived all the narrative
information and is atmospherically replete. At this participant specific
point they may achieve an awareness of the larger conceptual meaning of
the project or not (they may formalize a different and as valid interpretation).
Either way it is the participant who ends their involvement with the project. |
| To
briefly summarise, the visual language of the presented world and the structuring
of the participant's experience function as a re-interpretation and not
the structuring of the narrative events. These are true to the historical
narrative, as much as one can be true to a corrupt source. All my body of
practice (RedRidingHood
, The
Bloody Chamber )
shows a method of reinterpretation through the visual styling of narrative,
leading the participant to become involved through comment or critique on
the experience. This is especially intrinsic to Deviant. |
|
| 2.1.4
Chronology of the production: |
| Tools
used: drawing /reading /sketching /brainstorming/ notes / observation /
digital maquettes/animation and sound editing. |
| Initial
Research |
| I
started by investigating possible subject areas that would compliment my
notions of large pictorial interactive spaces. The subject area should conceptually
mesh with the idea of MSEs
, e.g. show dual
or polycentric arguments or perspectives. From this point I chose to focus
on the Scottish reformation period, and in specific, the witch-burning era.
I felt that basing the project on historical facts or actual events combined
with the gendered issues around witch trials would provide me with a new
narrative format that still links to my larger interests in folklore, female
archetypes and social hierarchies. It would also allow me to experiment
with the emotional resonance of the participant's experience, who on finding
out that the characters and events of the project are in some extent real
and not entirely fiction, may possibly react with intensified emotion. |
| |
| At
this point I attended the Scottish History Conference: The Survey of
Scottish Witchcraft, 1563-1736
[19], where I first heard the
narrative
of Christian Shaw, the little girl from Renfrewshire, who was supposedly
possessed by the devil. I proceeded to read material around the historical
events of Christian Shaw's possession, discovering both weighty academic
papers (which had uncovered that the source materials were authored anonymously)
and spurious modern day Internet postings. This thin but rich vein of discourse
convinced me that not only would the historical material provide me with
a fertile narrative base which I could ethically semi-fictionalise, but
also had a real-world pulse. |
| |
| The
Rough |
| Week
1-6 |
| I
decided to create a working "rough" of the project for Tekka
. Publishing a
preview of the project would indicate to my peers the direction of my work,
and also enable validation via early and informal feedback [20].
A working rough meant creating some layers of interaction and branching
paths, but in the main the rough was designed to present the narrative environment.
In keeping with my previous works, this environment should be largely pictorial,
describing a place that is both familiar and unreal, setting an upfront
dissonant relationship with the participant. The pictorial description should
loosely allude to Scotland's landscapes, both contemporary and ancient,
rural and city dwelling. This initial rough can be compared to a videogame's
full motion video clip (FMV), as the rough is in some sense a concentrated
depiction of the leading character Christian Shaw, her nonverbal attitude
(alluring, lonely, troubled) and the supporting worldscape. |
| The
outcome of this initial attempt was a feeling that I portrayed Christian
as being too old, too sexualised -- she was said to be ten years old at
the start of the narrative. I was relatively happy with the consolidation
of the buildings with the fauna and the appropriateness to the narrative
of developing secret spaces within the forests
[17], but not the colour palette, which I felt
needed to be subtler, more sensitive, in keeping with the depiction of Christian.
I also felt that the fragility of the drawn line was important, and needed
to be developed further. This digital but hand drawn quality would hopefully
add to notion of craft and preciousness in the space. |
| Week
7 |
| As
stated before, I proceeded to draw up a new graphic composition (working
to the fullscreen format). This formed the basis of the opening scene. The
composition offsets the safe feeling of green healthy pastures with the
unfeasibly tall and thick lined skyscraper buildings. Similarly, the feminine
feeling hill in the foreground is contrasted with the opposing blank screen
like shape sitting in the right of the composition. |
| Week
8 |
| The
main goal was to design and plan the structure of the project. I decided
on using a stacking layer system, which had already been used with some
spatial success in Vectorkpark
and Requiemforadream
[21].
Using layers would work in an entirely different way to the time based sequences
of film and animation. Depth as visual metaphor in combination with bursts
of traditional animated sections place the project in a much less charted
artistic territory. This difference is again an attempt at placing the participant
in another position, which is removed from conventional. |
| Week
9 |
| Having
decided on the visual style and structural rationale, I plotted out a skeleton
of narrative anchors .
These key events are the essential backbone within which the narrative experience
is contained. Without these the project would move into being narratively
incomprehensive or much more difficult responsive visual artwork. Balancing
these anchors with the more obscure content is the key to addressing the
participant -- too many anchors and the project is prosaic and dull, too
few either makes the work fully elitist or at best attractive looking nonsense. |
| Within
this week I also decided to use the embedded "pop-in" window technique
in the project (like a browser pop-up contained within the main project
window)
[22], thus giving the illusion of windows
within a window. These extruding windows are designed to help frame and
isolate the individual events of Christian's possession. I believe separating
them out from each other will allow the participant to focus and realise
the unique bizarreness of them. |
| At
this point I started the work being semi blind, or perhaps better described
as conscious of blind spots and blank spaces -- I am not able to fully comprehend
the outcomes (aesthetic, structure nor emotional architectures) as they
may change before the end. I worked towards becoming fully aware. |
| Week
10 - 18 |
| Is
spent designing and creating the blank spaces -- the content in-between
the narrative anchors. I decided on six key tableaux that relate to the
anchors. These tableaux are subtle variations of the opening scene. I spread
my time at this stage between working up the anchors and filling in the
blanks. This is done using a revisionary method, updating and refreshing
the look, animation, and sounds all in tandem. Working in tandem allows
me to gain a better sense of the total project. |
| Occasionally
(once a week on average) I stepped back (physically as well as mentally),
and took screen grabs as required, printing them out to amend and rework
onscreen compositions. I used extensive lists and notes whilst this tightening
up occurs. At this point I had a heavy cognitive load, a high level of concentration
is required as the project takes its fuller form. I am editing simultaneously: |
| · |
The
expanded character details and imagined psychology e.g. pre-histories in
journals. |
| · |
Coherency
of the landscape details (degradation of the world, seasonal changes etc.). |
| · |
Consistency
in the transitions of tableaux. |
| · |
Evolving
the pop-up narrative animations, so that they are not too literal or passive. |
| · |
Audio
management, decided on using loops for atmosphere and incidental effects
as a tactile experience. |
| During
this period, Dr. Hugh McLachlan
, an expert on the
historical narrative arranges an interview. I made an appointment and presented
the "work-in-progress". We discussed informally amongst other
things the notion of historical correctness as applied to this narrative
and the idea of a "living memory" as it relates to ethics. |
| Week
19 |
| At
this three-quarter stage, I concentrated on the structural successes and
failings. I devise the faded tableaux that occur when the extruding pop-in
narrative windows are instigated. This was a solution to a looming technical
problem, that the overlapping highly detailed visuals combined with movement
and audio would not, I discover, stream smoothly over the Internet. |
| Week
20-23 |
| During
these weeks I worked on the invisible compositions e.g. the grotesque imaginations
of the evil demons, the devil and the unreal plants. These were inspired
from a bank of 16 -17th century woodcut illustrations
[11]. The monstrous characters
and the bespoke foliage (found in the pop-in narratives) are presented in
a randomised manner, giving another sense of time, a sense of being alive,
supernatural or "eternal" in contrast to the set linear actions
of the buildings and Christian. |
| Week
23-26 |
Nearing
the end of my project, I began to edit in a more technical sense. Most of
the time was spent testing streaming over the Internet and the performance
of the work over different browsers and platforms.
(Note: after the feedback from participants' it was apparent that the streaming
capabilities of the Macromedia Flash Player combined with the interaction
style is not wholly satisfactory. Their viewing problems varied but they
averaged at least 2 "crashes" within their whole reading and re-reading
experiences.) |
| Week
26-30 |
| At
these, the end weeks, the last refinements occurred; now that 98% of the
project is complete I could get a sense of the whole composition. I tightened
up some elements, retouched colour, and checked against the initial narrative
for chronology. Most importantly at this stage I removed superfluous content.
Consideration was given to the amount of verbal text located in the two
journals (is it too much?). I deliberated redoing them with an entirely
visual diary, no words only images. I decide to err on the side of caution,
as I, as the creator, was entirely familiar with the work at this stage,
whereas the participant will be in most cases entirely new to not only the
narrative base but the structure, style and logic of the artwork. |
| The
expert participants
were invited to begin exploring the project. I began a review of the notes
and sketches in preparation for my write-up of the process and a critique. |
|
| 2.1.5
Deviant conclusion |
| At
the conclusion of the project I proposed that Deviant defies conventions
and at times is unique for many reasons. What follows is a description of
the outcomes that have emerged through my observation of the finished project
and the assessment of the associated documentation that surrounded the production
of the practice. |
| |
| Layering
Technique |
| Firstly,
instead of being complexly non-linear (in the cybertextual sense), the project
is a layered structure, which uses branching offshoots [23].
This structural layering works in "building up" compositions that
can be regarded as a MSE
. The different
layers show the interrelationships between the narrative objects. This linking
works in an unconventional manner -- layering as a storytelling technique
is little used within digital media; it requires participants to make associations
between objects using a spatial rather than time based metaphor, such as
typically practiced by Owenns or Thomson & Craighead [15].
This sense of difference is compounded further when the depiction of the
world and its inhabitants is a mix of the believable, impossible, familiar
and bizarre (My
aesthetic ).
The total effect is that the work communicates to the participant in an
unfamiliar, disturbing but imaginative manner. |
| |
| Embedded
Experiences |
| Within
the various visual layers the participant can discover multiple embedded
-- what I call -- animatics (animated effects). These animatics differ from
one to another, but can be broadly described as being non-sequitur [24]
visual objects, which contribute to the atmosphere by depicting the flora
and fauna of the story world and sit beside the recognisable narrative events
which work in a more traditional filmic manner. |
| The
latter group form the narrative template for the project; they are structured
in a linear sequence albeit spaced out within the project. The former and
more abstract content distracts from this linearity, as these at best narrative-like
types of objects are digressions that cannot be easily linked to the main
narrative. They require imaginings by the participant. |
| Interaction
with these embedded animatics is the primary type of experience within the
project (as they are the most ubiquitous). Otherwise the presented world
appears static, dormant and picture like. The opening and subsequent scenes
await the participant to uncover and "touch" their inner awaiting
life. This clear dependence on the participants' interaction makes the space
more discursive and feels more non-linear that in the formal structural
sense it is. |
| This
ambiguity of structural form requires the participant to begin either self-motivated
interpretations in search of some meaning (as Deviant has no clear
precedents), or to submit to the unfamiliarity of the project. This could
turn the previous feelings of non-linearity into a kind of anti-linearity.
Whatever path the participant takes, the project sets up an upfront malapropos
relationship. |
| |
| Empathetic
visual style. Evolving Tableau |
| As
developed within my entire practice [25],
these challenging participant roles are offset by a visual style that is
assessable in that it utilises a pictorial language (this shift to the pictorial
is supported by Ryan's recent thinking
[26]). These assessable images are understood
in a more universal way than a fully idiosyncratic visual language would
allow. Within Deviant, the composition, as well as the visual style,
was set up to cushion and soften these uncomfortable participant positions
(for Deviant is my most closure-challenging project to date). The
rendering of the world-scape is intentionally quiet, subtle, detailed and
beguiling, all of which aims to encourage the participant to start exploring
and thinking. |
| From
the start of the project, Deviant communicates to the participant
in a new way. It does not start "playing" like a traditional animation,
nor does it behave like my previous projects. Rather, the participant must
investigate the composition. The initial scene lays out some of the project
logic, or should I say mixed-logic, as the scene does not use clearly animated
prompts, nor allows for a back button, or structural map to help if the
participant gets lost. The links (which are activated by clicking) are integrated
and thus in effect hidden within multiple rollover events that are insignificant
in narrative terms. All these points should suggest to the participant that
they are not in a classic game environment and in a new manner they need
to carefully observe and touch the visuals to gain an insight into how to
progress further. |
| If
the participant succeeds and finds these links and progresses within the
project, they are presented with a slightly different version of the opening
scene. This may come as a surprise. As the project moves sequentially forwards,
the participant may expect to move away from this initial scene (which I
describe as a tableau -- a term from painting referring to a frozen moment),
but rather they will find that the opening tableau is continually re-presented.
This fixed participant perspective (e.g. s/he cannot zoom inwards / outwards
or move left or right of the composition) develops a sense of familiarity
and safeness, in that no significant re-appraisal of the location is needed;
they are always in the same place. This repetition works in two ways, firstly,
by freeing up the participant's attention to observe the layered new objects
as they uncover them, and secondly the repetition allows the participant
to notice the subtle conditional differences within the tableau (which happen
after each narrative transition), for example the tableau changes colour
with associated environmental seasons, the buildings gradually decay and
new detailed objects appear (these are almost always links). |
| Another
technique used to direct the participants' concentration and attention is
in the sound design. The soundtrack is normally used as a cohesive force
creating another and abridging layer of narrative suspense on top of the
moving visuals. Within Deviant, sound is used simply but unconventionally,
for the project uses sound both as a prompter tool (some of the harder links
to uncover are located by a low scratching noise as you pass the mouse over),
and in the opening of each new tableau where it is an atmosphere indicator.
The type of music employed intentionally varies from acoustic guitars, old-fashioned
tinkling music box, and electro sounds; these help associate the visual
language with a sense of folksiness, modernity, childhood and dreams. |
| |
| Ideas
of intimacy and touch |
| The
types of interactions offered by the visuals range from touching as a playful
or sensual act, touching to open up a new space, touching and pressing to
find a narrative link, all of which require a high level of observation.
Through this careful and considered exploration (as the physical onscreen
"hit" areas are intentionally small), you can get a feeling for
the soft or deft movements required to interact with the project. These
gentle and considered explorations sit in opposition to commercial point
and click choices, which are commanding, direct and to the point (Chapter
1 ). |
| Small
repetitive rubbing motions are required to make the objects move and sometimes
progress. This type of onscreen touch talks directly to real-world "physical"
intimacies (especially if a computer tracking pad is used instead of a mouse)
and as such given the remote human to computer viewing platform of the project,
combined with the sensuality of the visuals. Touching may give a sense of
overt sexuality. At least initially, the tactile experience may seem somewhat
uncomfortable to the participant. It suggests the instigation of a new,
possibly unverbalised experience. However, the discomfort is used to develop
an engagement with the protagonist. It highlights my preposition that the
participant is being intellectually pulled into the visual environment if
their moral consciousness is ignited. |
| For
some participants, these types of sensual associations will sit uncomfortably
with the childlike and naïve imagery. The clash is deliberate, used
to get the participants to think about the events within the world, the
base narrative, and what they as participants are contributing. The participant's
feelings may be compounded further once they reach the end of the project
and investigate the historical platform. |
| |
| Problematic
gaming mindset -- repetition |
| As
well as creating a system that defies standardized HCI rules, I also react
against the fast moving, goal orientated, participant roles of gaming (more
to follow below) as another conditioning in which to confront. Like HCI
intuitions, gaming conventions are significant mass cultural skills; the
gaming mindset and its interaction tastes are becoming even more ubiquitous
amongst contemporary Internet participants. My practice works towards creating
experiences that are unconventional, nettlesome, meditative communications.
Perhaps the largest decision that illustrates this rationale is the lack
of a "back" reading feature (see HCI golden rule 6 [1]).
Deviant requires that the participant apply a different type of attention
in exploring the visual spaces, one that is considered, slow and risky (you
will most likely have to start over again). |
| An
attempt at using a goal-based reading method will lead to frustration and
confusion, since they will be "playing" a non-playable structure.
The reason is that interactions don't create lasting outcomes and I do not
offer a full conclusion. All participants must explore at least part of
the un-narrative spaces to uncover the "important" links. At a
conceptual level, the project was not conceived as game, rather it works
as a responsive artwork /visual communication based on a narrative template,
and as such has an unfamiliar agenda. I anticipate many of the participants'
problems will come with not knowing how to approach the project, as from
the outset no clues are given. Indeed I ask the participant to become a
kind of remote collaborator who has to commit to their interpretation and
reflective critique to gain any sense of the ultimate purpose of the project. |
| |
| In
Conclusion |
| Deviant
is an responsive retelling as artwork. It is not a game in this sense. If
it is a game, its an exploratory game, a game whose goals are to generate
participant-centric interpretations and emotions. The project does not have
a traditional dramatic ending, all is not revealed to the participant at
the end of the structure. |
| My
intent in creating Deviant is to communicate my position on the narrative
by not offering new narrative outcomes, thus highlighting the historical
basis of the founding text: the narrative is trapped in time. From a modern
perspective it is un-interpretable (it challenges tropes of ethical interpretation
-- by virtue of its anonymous author (s)). |
| Deviant
does two things. Firstly the project causes disturbance via the participant's
conditioned expectations for the project to be more non-linear and for them
as participants to have more say in the events. It also challenges the notion
that historical stories are in some way unmovable by visually representing
the characters and the world within a rich, tactile and hybrid symbolic
language. This element of the project could be described as the digressive
spaces, since they are not essential to the narrative events and work within
a different sense of time. They tamper with "history as truth"
by using mixed and contemporary personal lexicons. These digressions are
as important as the narrative sections, as they speak with their own voice.
They speak for me. This contrast in purpose between the non-changing narrative
events and the digressive spaces help build a sense of "wrong",
of rupture, of hybridity within the project, referring in an oblique manner
to the interpretation of this particular historical account as an injustice. |
| Secondly,
it is a narrative treatment, a visual representation of demarcated historical
events (the demonically possessed Christian Shaw between the ages of 10-11).
I do not involve within the artwork Christian Shaw as an adult or as a successful
businesswoman, as this is Christian Shaw depicted in another and healthier
section of Scottish history. The project does not attempt an exegesis, as
none can found within the founding texts from 1877
[27]. These are corrupted by
the anonymity of the author. |
The
participants' interactions within the narrative sections of the project
do not offer new understandings of the events. They only reveal one telling.
The linearity and repetition of the narrative plot events -- revealed by
any re-readings -- will perhaps elicit a sense of disappointment from the
participant, as this appears to make the project simplistic. By doing this,
I am asking the participant to imagine new narrative possibilities for themselves
and to reconsider their position within the project -- which up to this
point is ineffectual in terms of the physical outcome.
The expert participant group who yielded many new readings positively demonstrated
such request. This is a repositioning of the participant role where the
participant both a digital but a semi-passive interactor and interpreter. |
| To
summarise, Deviant is an responsive system created to help instigate
the participants' enquiry into the historical representation of Christian
Shaw, to readdress the fact that she has been passed over. The story of
Christian Shaw is a scantily known narrative and the little that people
know about her is based on a malicious, possibly propagandic and anonymous
text. |
| The
project is unusual in at least two ways. It challenges the standardised
HCI languages of interaction, some of the conventions of cybertext / hypertext
fiction readings (back buttons and easy access re-readings), and the expected
goal orientated "making a difference" tasks. It also offers a
new and uncommon participant role -- a participant in a new kind of visual
reflective tool. I believe that responsive systems should be diverse or
even unique, and if appropriate as within Deviant, the author can
still experiment with being narrative based whilst removing herself from
traditionally controlling the participants' interpretations. Not all systems
need be reducible and yield meaning. |
|
| 2.2
The participants and the method |
| Part
of my research methodology
was to set up a
group of expert participants to review the new project Deviant: The Possession
of Christian Shaw. This group was invited on the basis of their interdisciplinary
abilities, personal voice and commitment to my research area, and comprises
a mix of digital artists (cybertext, hypertext / fiction / media), designers
(website, applied computing and games), writers (academic and journalistic),
a poet and a curator. It was also important to me that the group represent
both female and male perspectives. The objective viewpoints of these participants
will be used not only to aid further understanding of the perception of
the project but also to help me as the artist to extract extra arguments,
vocalise defences and gain additional contextual insights about my work. |
| They
were invited to become "expert participants/readers" and then
asked (via email [28])
that within two weeks of receiving the project they should set aside a period
of time which would allow them to undertake a rich, in-depth reading of
the work. The strategy that they should employ to achieve a reading was
not prescribed. This, I felt, would allow for a naturalistic experience
for both the participant and myself. The only specific outcome I required
was a typed and emailed description of their journey. |
| The
anticipated feedback was open in respect to the level of reflectivity: some
participants would perhaps respond critically, and others, I suspected,
would focus on the functionality of the project. This open remit is again
an attempt to generate rich and diverse responses. |
| |
| The
participants: |
| 1.
|
Prof
Mark Amerika
is Professor of Digital Art at the University of Colorado in the US. His
numerous books include the novels The Kafka Chronicles (1993) and
Sexual Blood (1995). In 1993, he started The Alt-X Online Publishing
Network, while in 1997 he launched the GRAMMATRON hypermedia narrative
project, the first part of his net art trilogy, which also includes PHON:E:ME
(1999) and FILMTEXT (2001)
[29]. |
| 2. |
George
Fifield is
a media arts curator, writer, teacher and artist. He is the founder and
director of Boston Cyberarts Inc., a nonprofit arts organization which produces
the Boston Cyberarts Festival. Fifield is curator of new media at the DeCordova
Museum and Sculpture Park in Lincoln, MA. In addition, Fifield writes
on a variety of media, technology and art topics for Artbyte, Communication
Arts and Digital Fine Arts. [30] |
| 3. |
Gonzalo
Frasca is a
videogame researcher and developer, currently working at the Center for
Computer Games Research at the IT University in Copenhagen. He's co-founder
and senior producer of Powerful Robot Games, a videogame development
studio. He has recently produced and co-designed the first official videogame
ever commissioned for a U.S. Presidential Campaign. [31] |
| 4. |
Dr
Raine Koskimaa
has published four monographs and some forty articles, reviews, and essays
dealing with digital literature, hypermedia, cyberpunk fiction, postmodernist
fiction, narratology, and empirical participant-response studies. His doctoral
thesis was titled Digital Literature. From Text to Hypertext and Beyond
[32] |
| 5. |
Cynthia
Lawson is an
Educational Technologist at Columbia University. She is also the project
manager on Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children Multimedia Study
Environment. Her research covers physical computing, interactive environments
for children and sound installation. [33] |
| 6. |
Nick
Montfort is
co-editor of The New Media Reader (2003, MIT Press), author of Twisty
Little Passages: An Approach to Interactive Fiction (2003, MIT Press),
author and programmer of interactive fiction (Ad Verbum, Winchester's
Nightmare) and co-author of several Internet based electronic literature
projects (Unready.net
2002: A Palindrome Story, The Ed Report). He is a PhD student in
computer and information science at the University of Pennsylvania. [34] |
| 7. |
Dr
Anja Rau studied
literature in Mainz, Southampton (UK) and Middlebury (VT). Her PhD thesis
What You Click Is What You Get? Die Stellung von Autoren Lesern
in interaktiver digitaler Literatur was published by dissertation.de
, Berlin, in 2000.
Her writings on the aesthetics of digital literature have appeared in the
Proceedings of Hypertext '99, she is also a reviewer for GameStudies.org
and the editor of
Tekka
[35] |
| 8. |
Dr
Roberto Simanowski
is an assistant professor in the department of German Studies at Brown University.
He is also the founder of Dichtung-Digital.de
an online journal
on digital aesthetics. He is the author of Interfictions. Writing in
the Net. [36] |
| 9. |
Stephanie
Strickland
is a poet, writer and academic. Strickland's essays about electronic literature
appear online in ebr and in American Letters & Commentary.
She is the author of the print books True North, The Red Virgin: A Poem
of Simone Weil, and Give the Body Back. [37] |
| 10. |
Dr
Jill Walker
is an assistant professor of Humanistic Informatics at the University of
Bergen in Norway. She's fascinated by networked writing, art and expression
and expresses this both in her weblog, jill/txt, and in traditional
research publications, such as her recently submitted PhD thesis on fiction
and interaction. [38] |
| 11. |
Noah
Wardrip-Fruin
writes e-literature, and produces evaluative articles
about it. His current nonfiction work includes being the lead editor of
The New Media Reader (with Nick Montfort) and of First Person:
New Media as Story, Performance, and Game (with Pat Harrigan), both
of which are published by MIT Press (2002). [39] |
|
| 2.2.1
The outcomes |
| As
anticipated, I received variable amounts and styles of participant feedback,
ranging from more informal comments, detailed walkthroughs of the participants'
interactions to critical reflections. I have chosen to include all of the
feedback to maintain the integrity and illustrate the variance of the participants'
experiences. |
| I
have previously
laid out in the conclusion of the artist's commentary section my thoughts
on the completed project. What follows is a breakdown of the main participants'
feedback points framed in relation to my artist-led insights and objectives. |
| As
acknowledged, Deviant was set up to be more challenging than my other
projects. It was created to explore and answer the research question B:
"How does the artist develop an interactive style and visual vocabulary,
which evokes rich responses from the participants whilst challenging them
to counter conventional interaction tropes?", and should also be seem
in terms of a progression from The
Bloody Chamber project,
both in its handling of aesthetics and structure. |
 |
| 2.2.2
Universal outcomes |
| 1. |
The
first unanimously held opinion about the project was that, in visual terms,
the project is successfully compelling. The
design choices
such as the depiction of the protagonist and the large level of detail within
the drawings were unanimously valued. The latter was the most mentioned,
not only in rendering terms but also in the way in which the project moved,
a common analogy being that it was at "pixel" level detail. This
resulted in a feeling of having to observe the project in a unique manner,
looking at the unusual subtleties -- looking "very closely" at
how it moved and how it visually changed. |
| 2. |
Following
on from the compelling nature of the visuals and in conjunction with the
sound effects, the next successful and broadly revealed issue was the sense
of a particular atmosphere within the project, namely a sense of
"disturbance ".
Deviant follows on from my other projects by continuing to
show hybrid representations that are simultaneously familiar, unreal and
anachronistic, setting an upfront discordant relationship with the participant. |
| |
| This
feeling of disquiet, of narrative mystery, was seen to help encourage the
participants' onscreen and mental enquiry. The feeling of unease suggests
(and in this case misleads) that there is a hidden source of this disturbance
that will be revealed by their enquiry. This atmosphere is built up from
the main landscape composition, which offsets the safe feeling of green
healthy pastures with the unfeasibly tall and thick lined skyscraper buildings.
Similarly the feminine feeling hill in the foreground is contrasted with
the opposing blank screen sitting in the right of the composition. This
multiplicity of the visuals combined with the naïvety or innocence
of the protagonist helps sustain the participants' interest. Commentators
also noted that this atmosphere was seen to turn even darker once the narrative
source became known and disclosed the fatal consequences of the previously
surreal or even funny events. |
|
| 2.2.3
Split outcomes |
| 1. |
Whatever
final understanding the participants found while engaged within the experience,
quite a few of them associated the act of uncovering the disguised links
as being game
like . Following
from this, the ambiguous nature of the project combined with the awareness
of conditional links seemed to encourage their expectancy of a traditionally
illuminating conclusion
to the project. |
| 2. |
Once
again the project does the unexpected, the conclusion
or epilogue
offers only a partial elucidation. At the end of the project the narrative
source is now available, a little is given about the context of the tale
and I visually depict the different hypotheses on the protagonist. This
new narrative enlightenment combined with participants' sense of the missed
links was shown (as intended) to encourage at least one more new re-reading.
|
| |
The
group is split on the issue of the success of this style of conclusion.
For example, Noah Wardrip-Fruin after … reading the text about Christian
I at first felt "Ah-ha, it comes together!" And then I thought,
"Uh-oh, what is it I'm missing here?" whereas Mark Amerika responds
to the epilogue in a entirely different manner "I'm not even sure how
necessary it is for me to know about the actual mythology behind Christian
Shaw. Sure, her story may have been made up to publicize a particular ideology
that promotes patriarchy, and for those who want to dig in deeper, all the
more to them. But I prefer to interstand the process of revealing lifestories
as I play them, which this piece does regardless of its original source." |
| |
This
highlights the still enduring nature (for at least some) of the participants'
desire for a conclusion, for clean closure and for direct communication
of an idea at the end of an experience. |
| 3. |
The
re-reading shows up another diverse split in the participant group. As discussed
previously, the project is visually multi-layered but for the main, is linear.
This again confronts some more of the participants' expectancies, namely
that the project should be narratively non-linear or dynamic like a game
or perhaps a cybertext. |
| |
As
they come to realise the actual linearity of the key narrative sequences
(especially given the heavy amount of interaction required to re-access
them), this discovery returns some of the participants back to a feeling
of frustration. |
| |
Re-reading
gave a fuller or altered opinion to some as they found themselves becoming
more involved cognitively with the protagonists' suffering. Others enjoyed
using the branching offshoots [40],
which offered them new character based perspectives (resulting in different
narrative understanding(s)), and again others found some pleasure in discovering
the randomly changing nature of the digressive spaces and/or the opportunity
to realise some more of the visual details (note this is an interesting
memory and attention issue as the detailing was always there to be seen). |
| 4. |
The
above responses to re-reading were in a sense repeated on any third or more
re-readings and as they became more familiar with the project this resulted
with the participants finally gaining the sense of the project's inherent
linearity and the amount of repetition within their experiences. I propose
that it is here, at this point of when many re-readings have passed, that
the project does in-fact conclude or the "whole action" has been
achieved
[Laurel, 41]. The gamble is that some participants
may not link any significance to the project's repetition and linearity.
Indeed they may see this as an unsatisfactory element to an responsive project
(such as Roberto Simanowski), or they may, like Anja Rau (and to an extent
Jill Walker) succeed to link these aspects to the source narrative and gain
some sense of an even larger meaning -- that being that from a modern perspective
the source text is un-interpretable, thus I have chosen not to traditionally
re-interpret, whereby keeping the project linear. This elicits a sense of
wrong from the participant (given the structural possibilities and context
of the practice). Ultimately, this is an attempt to get the participants
to create their own thoughts and interpretations on the story. |
| |
Through
reading the feedback, I now have an insight into how hard it is for the
participants to make a connection to this authorial intention, for it seems
the difficult nature of finding the links and the very fact that there are
so many requirements to bring your own interpretations, in turn makes it
hard to associate with my particular reading. In defence, I do not believe
that this detracts from the worth of the project, as this instance of my
reading is only a smaller and less important part of its many agendas. The
most important and successful of these was the ability to evoke rich
sensuous responses
from the participants, and their contrasting self-led interpretations of
the project. |
| 5. |
As
well as the above points, another split was found in how the participants
dealt with the initial confusion
that Deviant
sets up. The first group, Raine Koskimaa, Noah Wardrip-Fruin, Nick Montfort,
Jill Walker and Roberto Simanowski, found this confusion problematic. This
for the main was sited in the facts that at the beginning, the narrative
source was unknown, my narrative voice is unfamiliar, the visual telling
is ambiguous, and most importantly the lack of a conventional
participant position .
This sense of confusion tended to either evolve into a sense of puzzlement
or frustration, both of which lasted the entire duration of the project
and resulted in a negative experience for Simanowski and to a lesser extent
Wardrip-Fruin. The outcome of this state of confusion on the above group.
Led me to some interesting insights about how each individual dealt with
trying to reposition themselves into a state of clarity. It was seen that
formal techniques such as thorough and systematic "clicking" of
the visuals was the
preferred method .
Also of note was Raine's method of "googling
 "
[42] in order to discover something of the
narrative source. |
| |
The
remaining participants, Mark Amerika, Anja Rau,
George Fifield, Gonzalo Frasca, Cynthia Lawson and Stephanie Strickland
, seemed to observe
the difficult new nature of the work and absorb this into part of the project's
atmosphere, and, with less trouble than the above group, then began to explore
the project. |
| |
These
two paths or differentiated frames of mind over the issue of confusion show
the volatility of creating content that subverts or plays with conventions.
For any subversion to work, the participant must be able (however loosely)
to reference the systems that are being overturned. Experimenting in such
a manner undoubtedly means "losing" some of your participants
to perpetual and thus disruptive vertigo. |
|
| 2.2.4
Unexpected outcomes |
| Perhaps
the most unexpected finding from their feedback was the participants' reaction
to being reverted back to a semi-passive interactor. This is a kind of de-powerment
of the digital participant. Conventional non-linear and linked projects
are normally valued for creating situations by which the participant can
make onscreen choices and the responses from these choices significantly
change perhaps the outcome, structure, or possibilities within the project.
However, within Deviant, the participant cannot alter the narrative
sequence though unusually or even misleadingly there is a high level of
interaction with the environment. As questioned by Wardrip-Fruin "One
thing I found myself wondering, as my mouseovers did things like make flowers
bloom, is whether there was a consequence to these actions - was I altering
the world model, or just creating an aesthetic moment". Interaction
with "simply" embellishing objects for some of the participants
was unrewarding. |
| |
| In
section 2.13
I lay out my rationale for creating what I call the digressive spaces. On
this issue I have once again found that creating uncommon communication
exchanges are risks I take with the participant. Interestingly, the playful
roll-overs / animatics which I would suggest are one of my signature marks
and whose worth had never yet been challenged, have now become for some
-- problems. Perhaps it is because this project is highly demanding that
they become "red herrings" for the participant (given the frequent
feeling of being lost -- every interactive object in turn becomes a possible
link). Or perhaps it is because there are many more of such instances within
this work that the participants, in turn, suspects they must have further
significance. |
| |
| I
purpose that these contentious "aesthetic moments" function within
Deviant as being alluring world objects that "simply" add
to the notion of subtlety and function like toys. They are types of environmental
assets made by me to depict the naïve possible worldview of Christian
Shaw. They are not directly narrative, but they can also have cultural associations
that help stimulate the participants' interpretations as well as their sense
of touch and of atmosphere. |
|
| 2.2.5
In summary |
| Unlike
my previous projects (RedRidingHood
, The
Bloody Chamber )
I do not comment or moralize with this narrative (as acknowledged by Walker
and Rau
), this means any interpretation
will always depend on what the participant brings to this story. I believe
some people will be able to do this more easily than others, depending on
personality, training or familiarity with my work. It is noteworthy that
eight of eleven expert participants succeeded to gain some sense of resolution.
Those participants who are driven by a "winning state" or clear
conclusions will not fare so well. Deviant, unlike many other artworks
within my field
[43], appeals firstly to the eyes and ears
and then to the mind, and in this case, then importantly refuses to yield
easily graspable concepts and claims. This comes in part from its non-verbalised
or photo-realistic rendering. This is hard on participants who cannot or
are unable to commit to their own interpretations. The largely varying nature
of this group's response however proved that the project does succeed in
instigating multiple readings. |
| |
For
example some people found particular issue with the problematic non-traditional
conclusion, the frequency of their frustration when "pixel hunting"
for links, others the lack of extra narratives or classic re-interpretation,
or the misnomer of the title not matching the protagonist's gender, others
the static or dormant nature of the structure, preferring instead a more
filmic and audio rich approach. Many of the participants' comments overlapped
and touched on the same issues, whereas with some of the participants these
issues didn't perplex them at all.
But what they did agree on were the: |
| Immersive
achievements of the visual style: |
| |
"The
visuals are very impressive. The figures are sketched with only a few lines,
which nevertheless give a good impression of the character behind the face.
The girl and partly the other characters in the play always move slightly.
Thus the girl's eyelid closes and opens and sometimes the pupil moves on
mouseover to adjust the gaze to the user who is at the end of the mouse.
These effects are very impressive" (Simanowski
). |
| In
particular the level of detailing: |
| |
"I
became almost hypnotized by the small details in which I found myself (rolling
over every single petal, forming buildings out of flowers, making sure every
dot is released to then form symmetric cross grids, etc, etc.) There was
no frustration, because every time I went back to a different scene, it
was just that: different" (Lawson
).
"Deviant
is a work, which requires a close, very close look. There are minutest
details to which you should pay attention to. Or, at least there are lots
of small details you may pay attention to, but what is their significance
is not really clear" (Koskimaa
).
|
| The
subtlety of the movement within the piece: |
| |
"It
writhes and undulates under my caress, very sensuous. I feel like I'm making
love to it. Actually I should note that I'm doing this on a laptop and using
a mouse pad, not a desktop mouse" (Fifield
).
"I loved
the slow nodding and slight opening of the fingers of the child in the
tree-thicket. That uncanny feel I wish had been prolonged" (Strickland
).
|
| Their
empathy with the protagonist's suffering: |
| |
"I
feel complicitous. Its funny, but when the monsters are touching her I feel
it must be painful but the old lady's touch seems that it might be therapeutic"
(Fifield ).
"The
girl spits coals (actually until I read the final summary of the story
I didn't realise they were coals and I thought the lines were of smell,
not heat. I was disgusted anyway, so I don't think it mattered)…"(Walker
).
|
| The
particular sense of disturbance: |
| |
"The
images and the feeling of the interactivity work together well to create
a sense of disturbance…" (Montfort
).
"Don't
look for the aesthetically pleasing here; rather, witness the anti-aesthetic
leaking (of emotion, confusion, visual dyslexia, uncertainty)" (Amerika
).
|
| The
readings were a particularly rich set of feedback data. |
|
| 2.3
Answering the research question |
| How
does Deviant: The Possession of Christian Shaw answer the research
question -- How does the artist develop an interactive style and visual
vocabulary, which evokes rich responses from the participant whilst challenging
them to counter conventional interaction tropes? |
| A.
By disturbance, subtlety [44] and difference.
|
| I
have found that the main method of generating emotionally engaging responses
from the participants is from using subtlety. I propose that the within
Deviant the evoking rather than commanding sensibility is an important
feature. It is the gentle and delicate nature of the project's communication
exchange that draws the participants' emotions in. What follows are the
different manners in which Deviant can be seen to be subtle. |
| |
| Imagery |
| It
was found that using a visual language that deviates from the real, one
that dips into mass culture and uses signifiers that are hollow enough vehicles
for the participant to fill [McCloud 1993], creates the potential for cognitively
active imagery. |
| The
entire group noted the success of the subtleties in the visual details and
the portrayal of character. They acknowledged feeling both positive (compelling,
evocative, intriguing) and at times negative (frustrated, irritated) involvement
both with the world and the protagonist. This subtlety is in the main located
within the drawing and the scale of the images. This hand drawn comic nature
of the representation style created for some participants an association
of a childlike worldview (Koskimaa
, Fifield
). Combined
with the dark narrative background, this created a strong sense of dissonance.
|
| |
| Touching |
| As
well as the physical pixel based detail of the imagery, subtlety is carried
into the way the participants are asked to touch the onscreen material.
The areas of "hotspots" are small and often disguised. Thus broad,
frustrated or fast searches of the space will not reveal them. Similarly
as discussed in the previous conclusion
, the project
does not animate or move like a conventional piece of motion graphics. Most
of the animation (I've used the term animatics) are set up to respond to
the mouse enquiry rather than being traditionally time-based. This aspect
can also beguile, because it gives a participants' touch a new prominence.
These types of touches -- making world objects come to life -- talks directly
to real-world "physical" intimacies (especially if a computer
tracking pad is used instead of a mouse). As such it emotionally charges
the remote human to computer viewing platform of the project, since it is
unexpected. A different type of concentrated observation seems a consequence
of the interactive premise of subtle disguising and revealing, this seemed
to generate for some feelings of hypnosis and/or meditation. |
| |
| Movement |
| As
mentioned above, the animation style is often set up to respond to the mouse.
After such interactions, the project uses varied styles of movement as reactions.
Some are realistic (such as the protagonist's journey to the Doctor), some
alien (the way the flower heads spin and dilate), but in the main, most
of the movement is slow or what I like to think as being "suspended"
in some invisible emulsive gravity. This slower nature is often teamed up
with a slightness of movement. "…The movement in several places
is minimal, almost unnoticeable" (Koskimaa
). This creates
an unusual sense of stillness or quiet, which once actually moving, again
requires a high level of observation. This technique was designed to help
the participants become contemplative (as discussed in 2.13
, though not everyone
enjoyed the amount of quiet "I liked, as I said, the overall disturbingness,
but I wanted it to move fast, and or fluidly…" (Strickland
). |
| This
subtlety, in all its layered incarnations, is I propose uncommon within
responsive artworks and as such helps create a sense of difference within
the project, levelling all the participants to an even naïve explorative
field whereby keen observation and thought are required. This I believe
helps insight the participant curiosity. |
|
| 2.3.1
What else was revealed? |
| Deviant,
as well as answering the research question B, also brought fourth interesting
information about the contextual perception of my practice. As mentioned
above, though most participants associated this project as being some
kind of game ,
they also had difficulty in specifically typecasting this piece as a "traditional
game" or indeed directly linking it to my earlier works. |
| |
"In
"Deviant: The Possession of Christian Shaw", the artist defamiliarizes
her previous attention to plot and linearity and focuses more on the unfolding
of micro-scenes that never congeal into what we usually call story but operate
more as an interactive experiment in moving visual art…" (Amerika
).
"In
the case of Red Riding Hood, knowing the story ahead of time made the
piece stronger as a commentary, but also without knowing the story (if
that can be imagined), the online tale you tell "works." By
contrast, knowing this story in advance, I would not have fully explored
the possible places to go, because too many of them seemed not relevant
to the story…" (Strickland
)
|
| |
| Varying
terms such as exploratory narrative (Fifield
), visual narrative
(Walker ),
interactive experiment in moving visual art (Amerika
), and interface/game/interactive
environment (Lawson
), are all used
in an attempt to describe the new communicative exchange as offered by the
visual language and the structural behaviour of Deviant. |
| It
has reinforced my proposal that I am in a little traversed research space
or artistic practice. I believe that interactive systems should be diverse
or even unique, and if appropriate as within Deviant, the author
can still experiment with being narrative based whilst removing herself
from traditionally controlling the participants' interpretations. Not all
systems should be reducible and yield meaning. |
| A
surprising revelation was that micro level interactions generated participant
suspicions of some larger significance. It also seemed unlikely to them
that interactive objects could not be responsive "for the mouse's sake"
(Lawson ).
This seems to indicate an empiristic, anti-post-modernist attitude. |
| |
| Although
suspected, it was also found that confusion as an experience is particularly
hard to bear. The main method available to remove this sense of confusion
(at least in discovering links to progress the project) is by acutely observing
and memorizing, the main landscape and looking for changes. Perhaps this
project requires a new type of onscreen observation, one that requires looking
and seeing at the same time [45],
a kind of half-dreaming. This need for simultaneous observation and interaction
was problematic for the participants, perhaps because it is an unexpected
request from a clearly responsive piece of work. With unconventional or
inherently difficult works, it is anticipated that not all of the emotions
would be easy to sustain -- confusion, frustration even irritation are expected.
It was previously thought that the coaxing visual style and the "still"
nature of the project would soften these negative participant emotions and
the dormant state of the world meant that the participant would be wholly
in control of her/his investigation. This, it was thought, would allow them
to set their own pace. From the feedback it appears that the confusion over
the location of the links, their unclear role as participant combined with
the narrative ambiguity (on the first reading) creates for some too strong
a sense of confusion, which is not conducive to exploring, observing and
touching. |
|
| 2.3.2
Insights and omissions |
| What
could be/should be changed within Deviant: The Possession of Christian
Shaw? |
| 1. |
To
alleviate some of the participants' confusion, and as suggested within some
of the feedback, I intend to expand the role of abstract sound effects as
hints or indicators. This use of audio would preserve the way the visuals
function but clarify the participants' role, thus enabling them to observe
the changes more easily. |
| 2. |
I
would look to develop the complicit engagements within the project whilst
still preserving the literalness and linearity of the key narrative sequences.
This could be further developed by creating a stronger sense of voyeurism
(as better felt with The
Bloody Chamber )
of an invasion into the psyche of the protagonist. Similarly, the response
from a given interaction (especially within the incarceration of the victims
sequence) could be utilised further using more "surprise" [46],
horror, or shock element. This would help make the exchanges more meaningful
and promote a sense of sympathy and guilt from the participants. |
| |
| |
Chapter
3 --
Summary
of what was revealed  |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
1. |
HCI
is an abbreviation of Human-Computer Interface [Shneiderman 1998; p. 638]
|
| |
|
Human-computer
interaction is a discipline concerned with the design, evaluation and implementation
of interactive computing systems for human use and with the study of major
phenomena surrounding them.
Human-computer interaction arose as a field in the early 1960s from intertwined
roots in computer graphics, operating systems, human factors, ergonomics,
industrial engineering, cognitive psychology, and the systems part of computer
science. Alongside information visualization, another predominant area of
study is the computer interface (GUI --Graphical User Interface) as experienced
in commercial software packages, information driven websites, various computer
operating systems, auto tellers, GUIs are present in any instance of interactive
screen based communication with a human user.
The ultimate
goal of HCI is to enable fluid or intuitive interactions with the particular
computer system in question. In this fluid state the participant would
not have to think about what menu to choose, or which mouse button to
click, but could naturally and fluently perform the necessary actions
to achieve their goals -- the interface would then become transparent.
|
| |
|
This ultimate
goal is broken down into eight golden rules of HCI:
1. Strive for consistency.
2. Provide shortcuts for experts.
3. Offer informative feedback.
4. Ensure closure of tasks.
5. Avoid user errors.
6. Provide easy reversal of actions.
7. Support user control.
8. Reduce memory load. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2. |
Not
animation / but something else
|
| |
|
The
website vectorpark.com in relation to the fast action motion graphics
as typified by Gmunk, www.gmunk.com/2001_NYC_transit/FINN_QT.html
or www.weworkforthem.com,
instils a sense of quiet or reflection. The vibrant and frenetic movement
of MTV's television advertisements heavily inspired much of the flash
animation circa 2001. I sought to utilise this sense of stillness (as
seen in vectorpark.com
)
to create an upfront uncommon dialogue with the participant to indicate
that this artwork requires reflection, exploration and committed engagement.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3. |
Fullscreen
memory
[Huitt 2003]
When humans are presented with new information, we tend to respond to material
if it has an interesting feature or activates a known pattern (is familiar
or calls to mind prior knowledge). This gets transferred into what is known
as STM (short-term memory), which is what we are thinking at any given moment.
The generally held principle is that most people can process 5+-2 new instances
at any one point. The final transference into more long term memory depends
on how we group, characterise, classify, or sequentially organise the information.
This movement into long-term memory takes sufficient commitment to learning
the information, whereas simply repeating or attempting to memorize the
experience may not suffice. For details on Information Processing, see electronic
text: http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/cogsys/infoproc.html
|
| |
|
Within Deviant,
the use of visual perception and memory is key. The volume of pictorially
important links to be found within the tableaux are highlighted either
by a colour or the fact that they are new objects and similarly the non-important
objects are repeatedly shown in the same position after each significant
narrative intersection passes. This it was hoped would in effect neutralise
these objects as they become familiar and memorized. The fullscreen scale
of the presented interface is used to create enough visual resting spaces
(locales that are empty or minimal) so as not to overload the participant's
visual perception or inquisition but keep the intensity, e.g. detailing
of the rendering, as high as possible.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
4. |
"…interactivity
conflicts with the creation of a sustained narrative development, and consequently
with the experience of temporal immersion. Among the architectures described
above, the only one that places interactivity in the service of narrative
desire is the mystery story structure (no 6), because the reader's actions
discover, rather than create the object of this desire, and because the
story to be investigated is itself unilinear, determinate, and external
to the interactive machinery." [Ryan 2001;p.259] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
5. |
Mixed
belief systems
Towards the end of the artwork Deviant features a hidden subterranean
world, which refers to the older Scottish folkloric belief in faeries. This
faerie belief was made underground with the onslaught of Calvinistic rationality
and the cold, hard light of Reason circa 1550 onwards [Henderson & Cowan
200]. |
| |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
6. |
Arthur
Miller's play, Crucible (1953), was based on the 1692 Salem witch
trials. It was deeply influenced by the blacklisting of his left-wing friends
and reflected the era of McCarthyism. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
7. |
The
Omen, film directed by Richard Donner, (1976). |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
8. |
Traditional
accounts of witch-hunting paid little attention to gender, but it is now
discussed intensely see:
[Garrett 1977]
[Barstow 1994]
[Bruyn 1979]
[Roper 1994] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
9. |
The
female archetypes |
| |
|
With
RedRidingHood, the re-interpretation is rooted mostly in the visual;
I transform her into a blonde, an initiated, sexual persona. Attitude wise
she is depicted as being wily and as dangerous as the wolf character --
readdressing an imbalance that she is passive. Then contradicting this portrayal,
if you explore her musings in the hidden diary, you discover that she was
previously (before you encounter her in the narrative) a love struck romantic
girl, full of ideals who was "used" by the wolf. This instigated
her change of look and frivolous confident manner, but gravely she's directing
these changes to attract the wolf, so in this sense she is both the traditionally
naive victim RedRidingHood and dually and superficially sexually
empowered RedRidingHood.
[Leishman 2000] |
| |
|
In
the Bloody Chamber the female lead is shown as equally voyeuristic
and psychologically demented as the Bluebeard. They are mutually obsessed
with one another. In respects to the source text the major reinterpretations
come in the form that the Bluebeard is depicted as a weaker more humanly
flawed character and the wife figure is (via the participant and not the
Bluebeard) in charge of her own destiny, e.g. in the project she never dies,
she can only leave or stay.
[Leishman 2002] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
10. |
Temporality
in responsive narratives |
| |
|
The
issue of the functionality of time in reponsive structures was notably discussed
by Markku Eskelinen, in his paper at the DAC 98: Omission impossible:
the ergodics of time. In his paper he states that the spatial emphasis
nearly always supersedes analysis of the temporal. Using Stuart Moulthrop's
Hegirascope as illustration, he goes on to describe how the text,
with it's programmed "client pull" 30 sec decision limit in each
node, presents the participant with a "double interface" e.g.
where the text will sequence itself after 29 seconds pass or the participant
if can control the sequence if they act quickly enough. Hegirascope
also goes on to repeatedly allow access to its various nodes allowing re-readings
ad infinitum. |
| |
|
The
paper is available in electronic format, see [Eskelinen 1998 & Moulthrop,
Hegirascope, 1995/7].
Also see: [Aarseth 1999] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
11. |
For
an excellent online resource woodcuts from the 16th Century onwards, see
electronic text: http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/exhibns/damnedart/index.html
.
Illustration
dated 1544. |
| |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
12. |
 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
13. |
"Think
loop. The basic building block of an electronic sound track, the loop also
conquered surprisingly strong position in contemporary visual culture. Left
to their own devices, Flash animations, QuickTime movies, the characters
in computer games loop endlessly -- until the human user intervenes by clicking.
As I have shown elsewhere, all nineteenth century pre-cinematic visual devices
also relied on loops. Throughout the nineteenth century, these loops kept
getting longer and longer -- eventually turning into a feature narrative…Today,
we witness the opposite movement -- artist's sampling short segments of
feature films or TV shows, arranging them as loops, and exhibiting these
loops as "video installations." The loop thus becomes the new
default method to "critique" media culture, replacing a still
photograph of post-modern critique of the 1980s. At the same time, it also
replaces the still photograph as the new index of the real: since everybody
knows that a still photograph can be digitally manipulated, a short moving
sequence arranged in a loop becomes a better way to represent reality --
for the time being. " [Manovich, Generation Flash, 2002] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
14. |
Randomised
time
Within the pop-in framed compositions that depict Christian's possessions,
there are programmed random objects. These screengrabs depict the different
and randomly sequenced flora. |
| |
|
   |
|
|
|
|
|
|
15. |
Layering
opposed to filmic |
| |
|
Filmic:
relating to, or characteristic of movies; cinematic.
When we think of the visual languages used in films, much of what we perceive
is bound up in the technologies used to produce the moving image, e.g. the
capabilities of the camera (e.g. zooming, panning) and the possibilities
in the editing / postproduction. The temporal nature of traditional filmic
or cinematic experience works by depicting single images in succession,
this allows for complex juxtaposition of the images to create narrative
tension, often using tropes such as the close-up and flashback. |
| |
|
This
time based approach naturally filtered into the production of Internet artworks,
however even then is was used differently. There was a return to using short
looping sequences (think QuickTime clips, defaulted Flash art) in lieu of
epic narratives with a dramatic ending. This return to the looping trope
(early films were loops) was heavily influenced by the limitations of new
media technology and the bandwidth available to the majority of the Internet's
audience. |
| |
|
Though
still a significant aesthetic feature of Internet based moving image, filmic
conventions have become more associations or reference points to subvert
-- in that the artworks may use content from handheld digital cameras, web
cameras -- using live streams as content [a], or surveillance cameras, thus
are still formally directed and sequential in nature but are then often
looped [b], miniaturised or montaged into split or multi-screen [c] screen
compositions. |
| |
|
This last technique is the furthest departure from traditional cinematic
experience, as instead of sequence and single images, the participants experience
is of: co-existence, addition, simultaneity and multiplicity. As Manovich
points out -- "In spatial montage, nothing is potentially forgotten,
nothing is erased" [d; p.71]. This is a significant paradigm change
in how the participant reads the communication. |
| |
|
Layering
as a technique is much like multiple montaging. Instead of having clearly
demarcated screens [c], panels or windows, layering creates dual or multiple
images as elements are overlapped, obscured, or extended. This creates an
additional level of spatial relationships, since layers create depth hierarchies,
in which society associates with being "on top" as being best
or most relevant and being below or bottom as worse or insignificant. |
| |
|
Like
multi-screen, layering as a technique has become more prominent as a mediation
from the commercial tools that are used everyday by the artists -- layers
and thinking pictorially in layers are an intrinsic interface feature in
Photoshop, Illustrator, Aftereffects, Flash, and can also be programmed
into HTML pages using CSS [e]. |
| |
|
Conceptually,
layering can be used as a mixed metaphor -- to reveal hidden or disguised
articulations, to suggest complexity and impenetrability. For example layering
when used in excess can also mean illegibility of the communication. Layering
alongside the developments in spatial montage offers new ways to organize
and present narrative experience.
. |
| |
(a) |
Thomson
& Craighead (2004) Template Cinema, electronic text. |
| |
(b) |
Owenns,
Jimmy (2001) Peau Nue, electronic text. |
| |
(c) |
Lialina,
Olia (1996) My boyfriend came back from the war!, electronic text. |
| |
(d) |
[Manovich
2002] |
| |
(e) |
Cascading style sheets (CSS) address many of the problems of HTML. Some
of the older tags, especially the notorious <FONT>, clutter Web page
source code and make for inflexible sites. With CSS, style information can
be centralized. This centralization leads to increased power and flexibility.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
16. |
Michael
Nitsche argues that applying the cinematic three-act structure (from Aristotle)
in new interactive mediums is excluding the inherent qualities of the medium,
that it would imply "that interactive narrative is the product of gluing
together a narrative structure with an interactive method" that essentially
the user's ability to choose gets limited. Instead he proposes that the
three-act or act structures can be projected onto the user's experience,
that "his/her experience as the plot". [Nitsche 1998; p.69-73.]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
17. |
Secret
Spaces |
| |
|
"With
the theme of drawers, chests, locks and wardrobes, we shall resume contact
with the unfathomable store of daydreams of intimacy. Wardrobes with their
shelves, desks with their drawers, and chests with their false bottoms are
veritable organs of the secret psychological life. Indeed, without these
'objects' and a few others in equally high favor, our intimate life would
lack a model of intimacy. They are hybrid objects, subject objects. Like
us, through us and for us, they have a quality of intimacy. Does there exist
a single dreamer of words who does not respond to the word wardrobe?"
[Bachelard 1969; p.78] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
18. |
Murray
distinguished three main qualities of this new medium: immersion, agency,
and transformation. By immersion, she means the power of the medium for
helping the user to construct beliefs rather than suspending beliefs. [Murray
1997; p.181] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
19. |
Scottish
History Conference: The Survey of Scottish Witchcraft, 1563-1736,
University of Edinburgh, (January 2003). Available in electronic format:
http://www.arts.ed.ac.uk/scothist/witchconf/index.html
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
20. |
Copy
of the original text by Diane Greco for Tekka.net
,
Sept 2003. |
| |
|
The
Possession of Christian Shaw
"In 1695, a little girl named Christian Shaw began to exhibit symptoms
of what, at the time, was believed to be "demonic possession,"
causing seven of her neighbors to be tried as witches and burned at Gallow
Green in Paisley, Scotland. As soon as we enter "The Possession of
Christian Shaw," which takes this curious historical episode as its
starting point, we are thrust into classic Donna Leishman territory -- spooky,
dystopic, and strange. In Leishman's reinterpretation of 17th-century Paisley,
crummy grey high-rises shoot up, in defiance of all known laws of perspective,
from a deep green landscape of popsicle contours. The formerly-reliable
cursor hops around and changes shape alarmingly. You click on a bush; a
pair of reptilian eyes opens and does not close. And although you find,
after a few tries, that it is possible to remove the heads from trees, this
opportunity to violate the landscape does not advance your progress. There
are, in fact, no buttons or other obvious wayfinding devices in Leishman's
vision of Paisley -- that would be too easy.
No, you are here to watch and to listen, and to consider, in the long moments
you have while watching the elusive and enigmatic Miss Shaw twitch in the
grass or disappear behind a grove of trees, whether you're really getting
intimate with Paisley, or if you're merely getting to know its tricks a
little better." |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
21. |
Smith,
Patrick, electronic text, see:
http://www.vectorkpark.com
(2000)
Schmitt, Florian & Jugovic, Alexandria, electronic text, see: http://www.requiemforadream.com
(2002)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
22. |
The
term "pop up" refers to the phenomena when an Internet browser
is stimulated by the source-code to launch a new external browser window.
This popup window can be given specific attributes such as size, position
and can even be asked to animate. A recent trend has seen non-requested
popups being spawned (opened) as soon as the participant opens an index
browser page. This popup code repeatedly sends new windows every few seconds.
The content in these spawning windows tends to be commercial adverts or
pornography. To reverse this irritating trend, new programs such as Popup
Killer, Popup Blocker, and Ad Stopper have been created
to stop these automatic popups from occurring. See: http://www.panicware.com
For an example of spawning popups as Internet art, see the electronic text
by: Joan Heemskerk and Dirk Paesmans' OSS/**** on http://www.jodi.org
..
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
23. |
Branching
offshoots |
| |
|
 |
| |
|
The
nearest structure to be found in research
question A is
in the "centered systems, arborescent structures (tree like and branching)"
category. Also see reference 40
....
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
24. |
[McCloud
1993; p.71]
Scott McCloud discusses the different types of sequences that can be used
in moving images and comics. These categories are broadly defined as:
1. Moment to Moment, panel to panel, requiring very little closure.
2. Action to Action, a single distinct progression.
3. Subject to Subject, participant participation is required to make 'meaningful'
closure.
4. Scene to Scene, deductive reasoning is required, often showing transitions
over significant distances of time and space.
5. Aspect to Aspect, the wandering eye technique setting the mood and tone.
6. Non-Sequitur, no logical relationship but related through perception
of sequence.
|
| |
|
The
non-sequitur is the most experimental and demanding on the participant,
as it creates no conventional meaning. I have discussed this area more in
my Masters of Design thesis, Does
point and click interactivity destroy the story?
[Leishman 2000] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
25. |
[Leishman,
D. (Dec 2000) RedRidinghood]
[Leishman, D. (2001) Angel Interceptor]
[Leishman, D. (May 2002) The Bloody Chamber] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
26. |
Ryan
is interested in the relinquishing of the model of the novel in favor for
localized experience of narrative such as short episodic, provocative or
poetic structures. Ryan also suggests that hypertexts depart from verbal
textuality and should include images, spoken word, sounds and reach into
the territories of conceptual visual art. This Ryan feels will enable a
better sense of user immersiveness and generate more appropriate stories
for digital media. [Ryan Immersion and Interactivity in Hypertext
2001, ch 8] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
27. |
[Anon.
1877, p.123]
[Sharpe 1884, p. 172]
[Vediovis, 1982, p. 319] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
28. |
Copy
of original email sent out to the expert reader / participant group, (19/01/04):
Subject: Invite to be an Expert Participant
Dear ________________,
I am writing to ask whether you would be interested in becoming a 'participant/explorer'
of my new artwork. This piece of work was devised and created within a practise
based PhD framework. This work constitutes a significant portion of my final
thesis. Practise based /practise integrated PhDs in Art and Design are relatively
new here in the UK and as such I sit as the first candidate within Glasgow
School of Art's Visual Communication department to submit for such a degree.
I have selected
you as a potential participant for your interdisciplinary abilities, personal
voice and commitment to my research area; I respect you as being a valued
expert.
Your reading
and feedback will be used in conjunction with my own self-reflection to
critique the project. You would be cited and given credit for your comments
in my thesis and in any subsequent papers generated from my research.
My expectations
from you would be simply that within 2 weeks of receiving the project
you would spend a period of time to allow a rich, in-depth reading of
the work. The strategy, which you employ to achieve a reading, is completely
up to you. The only specific outcome that I would need is a typed and
emailed description of your experience. Without spoiling the surprise
of this project, I would like to say that it covers narrative structure,
visual interactive exploration, and onscreen aesthetics, and is my most
complex project to date.
If you feel
you would like more information before accepting or declining this position
please do not hesitate to ask,
Yours,
Donna Leishman
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
29. |
Amerika,
Mark:
[Grammatron1997]
[PHON:E:ME 1999]
[ FILMTEXT 2001/2] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
30. |
George
Fifield
Boston Cyberarts Inc, http://www.bostoncyberarts.org
DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park,
see: http://www.decordova.org
.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
31. |
Gonzalo
Frasca
Powerful Robot Games, electronic text, see: http://www.powerfulrobot.com/
Electronic text, see: http://www.ludology.org
.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
32. |
Dr
Raine Koskimaa, works as a professor of digital culture at the University
of Turku, Finland, where he teaches and conducts research especially in
the field of digital textuality.
Thesis available in electronic format, see:
http://www.cc.jyu.fi/~koskimaa/thesis/ . |
|
|
|
|
|
|
33. |
Cynthia
Lawson
Electronic text, see: http://www.cynthialawson.com/
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
34. |
Nick
Montfort
Electronic text, see:http://nickm.com
[Wardrip-Fruin, & Montfort 2003]
[Montfort 2003]
[Montfort. N., (2000) The Ed Report, electronic text] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
35. |
Dr
Anja Rau
Electronic text, http://www.tekka.net
Electronic text, http://www.gamestudies.org/about_reviewers.html
Electronic text, see:http://www.flickwerk.wordwrap.de
Electronic text, see:http://www.wordwrap.de
. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
36. |
Dr
Roberto Simanowski
[Interfictions 2002]
Electronic text, see: http://www.simanowski.info
Electronic text, see: http://www.dichtung-digital.de
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
37. |
Stephanie
Strickland
Electronic text, see: http://www.stephaniestrickland.com/
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
38. |
Dr
Jill Walker
Electronic text, see: http://huminf.uib.no/~jill
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
39. |
Noah
Wardrip-Fruin
[ Impermanence Agent 1998+] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
40. |
Link
to Large structural diagram of Deviant
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
41. |
"
A 'whole' human-computer activity can be described, using the broad definition
of a whole action, as having a beginning, middle, and end, and being composed
of incidents (one or more) that are parts of that whole. Thus playing a
computer game until it ends (or I end it) is a whole action, and a 'session'
with my word processor is a whole action (even if I don't finish the chapter
I'm writing)." [Laurel 1993; p.70] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
42. |
The
Phenomena of "googling" as Koshimaa referred to it, is when the
participant enlists the help of google.com, one of the Internet's premier
search engines (software set up to trawl through all documents on the Internet),
to search out extra information on any given subject. Raine used the keywords
"Christian Shaw" to search out extra information. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
43. |
Literary
hypertext fiction/ serious hypertexts & coded/kinetic poetry
These art forms (generally) have low visual appearances, perhaps have minimal
or no sound and instead use low grade (in a typographical sense) type to
communicate with the participant. These choices are opposite to Deviant,
which is almost exclusively pictorial, notably coloured, uses sound and
then refuses to yield easy graspable narrative claims. Below is sample of
such practices that either give primacy to verbalised communication, or
embed deconstruction theories:
[Andrews 2003]
[Biggs 1996]
[Fisher 2001]
[Mez 2001]
[McPhee 2003] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
44. |
The
power of subtlety over literalness in the style of the visual language used
within the Deviant project
I define
subtlety as meaning: initially/on the first reading the full meaning is
difficult to detect. This difficulty comes in understanding the visual
signs either because of their scale or the fact that they are not fully
representational. The participant must apply more observation and analysis
than is commonly needed when the visual sign is clear/iconic and able
to be interpreted with rapid certainty.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
45. |
Confronting
Change Blindness
[Rensink 2000]
There is
a strain of cognitive psychology that specialises in investigating the
phenomena that is called "looking without seeing" or change
blindness. This occurs when the observer looks directly at an image yet
fails to perceive a change in neither the Central Interests (Main theme
e.g. location, colour) nor Marginal Interests (insignificant to the full
meaning e.g. a specific shadows, angle of horizon). Hypotheses exist proposing
that the act of blinking / non-fixed position of the eye may be a factor,
or that "inattentional blindness" occurs: When observers are
intently engaged in one visual task, they will often be unaware of what
would normally be a perfectly visible simultaneously occurring event [Mack
& Rock, 1998]. Then in addition and perhaps more key to Deviant
-- Simons [1996] and Zelinsky [1997, 1998] have also found that in scenes
consisting of small collections of objects, changes made to directly attended
objects can be missed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
46. |
Techno-suspense
is also followed by techno-surprise
Janez Strehovec's techno surprise is connected with the expectations of
what is going to open after the act of clicking and what kind of reality
will the participant/ user enter. [Strehovec 1998 & Strehovec 2001]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
47. |
The
use of artists/designers journals as a method with practice based PhDs is
a developing trend in the UK. [Moon 1999] |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
48. |
Interstitial
paradigm
Interstitial art exists in the interstices (spaces between), capable of
binding two or more things together.
[Moulthrop Gamely Interstitial 1999]
[Moulthrop Misadventure: Future Fiction and the New Networks 1999]
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
49. |
The
State of Play: Law, Games, and Virtual Worlds Conference, New York Law
School November 13-15, 2003. |
|
|
|
|
| |
*. |
Such
as deployed in: Victory Garden (1991) Moulthrop, S., the back track
button takes you back to the previously read lexia (block of text).
Afternoon (1987) Joyce, M, the first of its simple navigational buttons
is an arrow pointing left: pressing it takes the reader back to the previously
read lexias. Patchwork Girl (1995) Jackson, Shelly, the two way arrow
takes the reader to the next lexia in the default line and with the alt-key
pressed down, to the lexia previously read.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Deviant
Project Methodology |
| The
below text is a extended commentary on the methods used to create and elucidate
the Deviant project. |
| |
| To
discuss the project Deviant: The Possession of Christian Shaw I devised
two new methods. |
| The
first is the way in which I documented the creative journey of producing
the project, namely I chose not to track my creative process via a daily
nor weekly logbook [47],
but decided to collate the technical / artistic notes, and the "sketchbook"
digital
files as and when
they were created. I only reviewed them after the project was completed.
I have felt this method to be in keeping with what I have termed the fluid
or emergent process. |
| At
the start of the project, a considerable amount of preplanning and formal
designing occurred, typically a lot of critical and creative exploration
happens at this early stage. I find when creating responsive non-linear
content that one must allow a significant space in which ideas and solutions
emerge rather than being fully in place from the start. This emergent type
of exploration is not the same as using one's artistic intuition. Rather,
ideas and solutions emerge from and through the overarching sketch of the
project and the continual visual analysis of what has just been achieved.
This could be described as a kind of seesaw effect. It occurs all the way
up to the end of the project. |
| This
non-intrusive collection of material seems logical given that the non-linear
structure and the content are transformations of a traditional linear narrative.
I describe the extraction and creation of the extra explorative content
as being like spinning a web around the established inner core. This web
can be: gossamer (delicate and decorative), leafy (giving clearly extra
life to the core), robust (whereby the extra spaces are as important or
more important and usurp the core material), or indeed a mix of all the
previous. Whatever path is chosen, this process is always highly demanding.
To document my creative process at each step, I feel, would insert unnatural
pauses and stops, resulting in a lack of focus. This would lead to a more
fragmented end product. |
| Once
the project had been completed, I then immediately began the process of
reviewing the collected materials. The immediacy was necessary to utilise
the fresh memory of the production. The supplementary documentation was
seen to serve as aids in recalling the multi-faceted experiences of the
making. |
| The
end product of this review of the documentation material was a written document
(now this Chapter 2) detailing the larger context in which the project sits;
what its objectives are and how they came to be formed; specific
prepositional notions
that were developed through the making (e.g. animatic rather than animation,
narrative source as un-interpretable); and a breakdown chronologically
of how long each
facet of the project took to develop. The document ends with two conclusions.
The first
is a review after the fact of what the project achieves and has become.
The second
is a clarification and summary of how I propose the project functions. |
| This
latter
conclusion is intended to directly precede and be used in comparison with
the empirical knowledge as gained from the expert participants' feedback
(see below). This method allows for three tracks of writing around the project,
my own as the author "insider", those of the diverse external
participants "outsiders", and the integrated interwoven comments,
thus utilising the subjective and objective viewpoints. |
| |
The
second method was selecting and inviting a group of expert
participants
to explore this new practice.
These specific experts were asked to use and reflect on my new work. This
group was invited on the basis of their standing within the research community
and their interdisciplinary abilities (especially important given the findings
that my practice sits in-between various contexts). They are a mix of digital
artists, designers, writers, a poet and a curator. It was also of key importance
to me that the group represent both female and male perspectives. |
| These
participants were invited (via email [28]),
and then asked that within 2 weeks of receiving the project, to set aside
a period of time which would allow a rich, in-depth reading of the work
(it actually took around 4 weeks). The write up (for those who asked) was
recommended as being 1-2 pages long. The strategy that they employed to
achieve a reading was non-prescribed. This I felt would befit their expert
status and allow for a naturalistic experience for both participant and
me. The only specific outcome I required was a typed and emailed description
of their journey. The feedback was open in respect to the level of reflectivity.
This open remit was again an attempt to generate rich and diverse responses.
|
| Fourteen
participants were invited, twelve of whom accepted (this was a much higher
percentage than was anticipated). In the end one of these twelve had to
leave the group at the early stages due to health reasons. I had decided
to invite fourteen, expecting about half to accept. Such a small number
is appropriate since I am not using a surveying or sampling technique. Rather,
the respondents are elite experts in relevant fields. |
| I
feel it is worth noting that after the feedback was collated, this high
number of acceptances was fortunate, as my open remit in the conduct of
how the readings were achieved combined with their personal and professional
workloads has significantly affected the length and calibre of the feedback.These
empirical viewpoints from the participants were used not only to aid my
further understanding of the perception of the project, formalise defences
as a type of critique but also helped me to both reveal its "uniqueness"
and reposition the practice .
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
