[REDACTED] breaks the internet
I enjoyed the sound design and interactive web design elements of this video-game art piece by Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley we were asked to look at in a recent lecture. It was a harrowingly cerebral journey with strikingly surreal graphics and a vague utopian destination. The soundscape reminded me of the witch house music genre and artists who splice, repeat and reverse vocal samples such as Crystal Castles. I would like to create a liminal virtual space like this for my project, from which the entity is trying to escape.
Below is a mind map I created after my first 1:1 tutorial with Jeremiah. We talked through the idea I began developing in my recent post and branched it out, so I'd like to get a few working ideas together and do tests in Photoshop and After Effects, as well as OBS for screen recording experiments.
Rethinking the prompt "Maps and Networks" once again helped me slow down and connect to the project and my idea in a new way. For example, I suggested that the entity could be the digital "ghost" of an abandoned avatar made by some child years ago when browser-based MMORPGs were common for kids to play and heavily advertised. These virtual worlds acted as spaces for communication because they were equipped with chatrooms and minigames for local and global cooperative gameplay. The "maps" and "networks" of these online spaces are grounded in reality only by the physical servers necessary to run the games' features and offer players the same experience. As a child, you could only make an account with a parent's email for supervision, and the whole avatar creation/customisation process has become a staple for many who grew up playing social games; presenting yourself in the way you wanted to be perceived, having nostalgia for the time you'd spend online, traversing the game map as you do your dailies.
What would happen if, somehow, an avatar on an account no longer in use became sentient? The original MovieStarPlanet was shut down in 2020 as Flash Player was discontinued, upon which it relied to run. Similarly, Bin Weevils was shut down in 2021, Moshi Monsters in 2019 preemptively and Club Penguin back in 2017. Since all of these games/platforms started up from 2004-2009, the window for a generation of people playing them regularly and continuously was fairly short. Since the shut-downs, people have found ways to unblock these games with private servers, but any accounts formerly made are gone. I think exploring the idea of abandoned virtual avatars gaining consciousness, wondering what happened to their corners of the internet, trying to figure out where and what they are, could be a cool way to approach the brief.
I'd like to make this a surreal experience for the viewer. At this level, I'm having trouble deciding which route to go down, as I don't want to bring together too many themes to the point where the work isn't cohesive. Abandoned game avatar "ghosts" having gained sentience is a starting point, but as far as specifications, I'd like the work to be around 6 minutes. I could achieve the same idea on a single screen by using windows and tabs rather than screens, which the entity desperately tries to communicate to the viewer. The digital ghost can leave clues by invading many parts of someone's internet browser, such as messages in bookmarks, search history, comments sections, forums and shopping lists.
Practically, I would need to playtest this idea so that I can gauge whether or not viewers can understand the context and figure out the narrative with the clues I include. Below is an initial concept for how the screens would pop up and what the entity would be trying to type. I'm going to experiment with glitching out the logo and the page's structure to make it seem more invasive and unnatural.
During my reading week, I've researched effects I could use to improve my After Effects skills and improve my installation concept's effectiveness at convincing the viewer to suspend their disbelief, as well as generally looking more impressive. Techniques I've considered include pixel sorting, glitches/bugs flowing between new tabs being opened and "melting" down the page, and making it look like the entity is building up parts of the web page in real time to try and send a message. Below is a tutorial I found that will help me achieve a pixel sorting effect manually, without a plugin.
My friend suggested a potentially interesting idea for this project when I spoke to them about it as well; if anyone else working on installations is thinking of doing a internet-themed screen-based project, we could coordinate so that our works interact. For example, my avatar ghost could find a way to glitch into their screen and vice versa, depending on the idea. I will ask around and see if this is something we could sort out to elevate the immersion and interactivity of our collective installation. My next steps are to begin storyboarding the piece to better understand the narrative flow I want to achieve.
Comments
Post a Comment