Research Critique – Second Front

 

 

When I first saw Second Front‘s art pieces, I was immediately reminded of the similarities to two popular games, SIMS and Grand Theft Auto. They all had this openness and free world with physics that defy reality.

Second Front is a group of individual who made a series of art performances on an online platform called Second Life. (I know, it’s confusing right?) In any case, what made their works unique was the collaboration between different individuals from different places coming together in a Third Space – super participation.

How is this anything special?

Firstly, being able to venture the free and open “world” allows one to try out many things that cannot be done in real life, because of the law of gravity and laws that govern us as good citizens. In Second Life, one can fly or kill without and ethical attribute. This, can both be good and bad.

You will then come to realised that this could be more good than bad. Good because you could satisfy a curiosity on what would happen is you did what could not be done in the real world, suffice to say, this satisfaction would lower the chances of someone committing offences.

However, at the extremes, this would mean the over-indulgence of the third space and marrying of the virtual world with reality. It could go both ways. One may so live in the online space so much so it feels so real or you could exercise the possibilities from the online space in the real world.

How does this apply to what we are doing in Internet Art and Culture?

I think this has everything to do with what are learning. We are in living in a society where everything is advancing so rapidly and see online platforms being a part of one’s life. Second Front confronts the nature of the open real world in Second Life. Of course their performances such as robbing a bank wasn’t just a random recording but somewhat pre-planned. From the artistic presentation to the events that occur throughout the heist definitely had to be planned out. This allows for viewers to be presented a real-world-fantasy.

If it is better improvised we will
probably do that. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. With
prerecorded performances, we can fine tune and edit out things we don’t
want the audience to see. But with improvised performances, the work
takes on a life of its own fueled by the creative energy of our players
which really shows through. Also, many times, it’s the surprises and
unintended actions that make the work really come alive!

-ALISE IBORG,  A LEAP INTO THE VOID: INTERVIEW WITH SECOND FRONT, by Domenico Quaranta

In all, I think that more of such platform should be implemented to allow for more understanding of the values and occurrences in the real-world.

P.S. No matter how many times i read or look at their works, I still can’t get their names and the platform they are on right. Second Front, Second Life, so confusing haha!

Research critique: Jennicam

 

Supposedly her first image of Jennicam

Prior to Jennicam, there were two other “live camera” web series (Trojan Room Coffee Camera and a fish camera) which were inspirations that Jenny borrowed from. The coffee camera allowed people in University of Cambridge (old computer laboratory) to know if there were still coffee in the dispenser so they don’t have to climb up 7 storeys for nothing. (superbly smart idea). Then there was the fish camera which literally just did like what the name suggests.

What initially struck me when I first review this piece was that it actually resembled that of a security guard watching from a panel a group of CCTVs.

And what Jennifer did was just that. An open surveillance into her personal life. What made this piece such a hit was the idea of letting the whole world into her life and without any form of pretentious factor. (or is it?)

In any case, Jenny confronted the idea of what privacy meant to her and more importantly, how significant it was to others when they watch it and think about it. She placed cameras around her house and did anything and everything she wanted to do like she would normally. And, this whole idea of doing nothing or just watching someone else do something was actually entertaining. People would tune in her broadcast while they did house chores.

And then I gathered that people were actually intrigued by what she does because firstly, they had some form of comparison as to what they were doing on a daily basis. Secondly, it invites curiosity from viewers to find out what she was doing and what she would do next. Thirdly, this allowed the viewers to get to know who Jenny was. What kind of a person she was from her behavior and the things that she does. And very often, these are all very relatable events that add up to why this was such a big thing then.

“In short, Ringley is the “Ed” of the Internet. She has dedicated her life to being an open book, a voluntarily Orwellian existence that allows strangers a peek of her at the height of passion, or more likely, sitting in front of her computer, staring blankly at the screen as she works at her real job, a freelance gig designing Web sites.” – By Jamie Allen
CNN Interactive Senior Writer

This has since inspired what we now call “V-logging” and and this time it allowed for more interaction with both viewers and users, with the vlogger talking through the screen and viewers leaving a comment. And I guess that the inquisitivity of human nature remains, only that now, the privacy that vloggers now face were greater and are subjected to more public scrutiny. This made them stronger as an individual and I guess this is something I think we would a want to take away from the live feeds we have been doing in this class as well. 🙂

Co-broadcasting – Test test for final project

Third Space Dating

So for this test we tried out third space dating. We connected via mobile and I streamed a powerpoint on my desktop with question that we needed to answer. I feel that this allowed for better interactivity and for us to understand each other.

However, there was an issue with co-broadcasting like what you see in the video below. Somehow the app doesn’t space both feeds equally. But it worked well on my phone. We’ve yet to identify the problem. In all, this set up works and we just need to decide on our final project and work out the specifics.:)

Posted by Mirei Shirai on Wednesday, 18 October 2017

Online Dating *testtest*

Posted by Isaac Chu on Wednesday, 18 October 2017

P.S.

I think that the idea generally works. We even found out that you can now stream screens on Facebook. But we still can’t co-broadcast on desktop, even after I’ve tried switching my desktop browser to a mobile version.

 

Interactive Devices #4

Light – the camera(s) that sought to take over the DSLR

The Revolutionary Light L16 Camera

This camera is pretty much a pocket DSLR and it just changed the game ?

Posted by UNILAD Tech on Friday, 13 October 2017

This camera with its imaginative concept of having multiple lenses (probably stemmed from Huawei’s and Apple’s dual camera idea) that allow for the capturing of large megapixel image in a pocket-sized camera. Stitched using software, the multiple images combined produce huge resolution files which also captures depth and allow for after-capture depth manipulation to achieve your desired image.

As a photographer, while this seems to be a suitable replacement for my photography services, I feel this takes away the value of the skill. This is a craft by profession and thus while this seems like a good alternative, would not be that good for the industry. It may be useful as a value add-on:)

Interactive Devices #3

Automatica

By far the most intriguing device ever.

Engineers from Standord University created a live band but with robots that are programmed to play musical instruments such as the piano, drums ans turn table. Their aim was to realise an A.I. musical future with this project. Best part, they only took a month. I was literally blown away, given the short amount of time spent to make this. This inspires me further to dwell into the world of robotics and programming.

While it all seems complicated, the idea and basics behind it is actually very simple. The robotics arms features a 6 axis arm but all of which the angle of movement isn’t at all large. Then there is the intervals at which the arms press the keys/play the instrument. Getting the beats right, is definitely more difficult. But what I think is the hardest, is to get the different axises of an arm to move in one concise motion to deliver an actual action. This is what I’ll probably be stuck with, especially having to sync the other arms together.

https://web.facebook.com/RocketsAreCool/videos/1350758585053669/?_rdc=1&_rdr

 

 

 

Interactive Devices #2

Low and behold:

The power to make your dreams come true*
*lucid dreams/half reality? 

iBAND

(image source)

How it works?

It detects your brainwaves to know whether you’re asleep and stimulate your brain into lucid dreaming. And to top it off, if you’re wondering if you will wake up from the cues, fret not. iBand seems like they have got it covered with verbal and visual cues. (see video below)

This device lets you take control of your own dreams

Now your dreams will never be out of reach… ??

Posted by VT on Monday, 2 October 2017

The hardware involved seems one too many.

There’s also more hardware for the pillow that you can get with this band. All these seems believable that this device(s) could help bring about some health benefits such as waking up feeling more refreshed or aiding as a stress reliever. But aside from all the technicalities are more underlying factors to consider. Dreams, for that matter, lucid dreams aren’t that safe and not everyone can take it.

One of the best perks of lucid dreams can also be one of the worst pitfalls: realistic feelings. The lucid dream state can offer euphoric feelings of sight, motion, happiness, and even sex, but that means feelings on the other side of the spectrum can happen as well. Fear, sadness, and pain are all possible in a lucid dream too. That said, negative feelings like that are still more likely to occur in the waking state since, unlike the dream state, you have less control over the world. And no, you don’t die in real life if you die in a dream. Trust me, I’ve died many times in my dreams.

Patrick Allan, The Benefits and Risks of Lucid Dreaming

For one to undergo lucid dreaming “safely” is to be mentally sound, but even then, how do you ascertain one’s mental state? The greatest danger posed would be that an individual will constantly want to remain in their dreams and not wake up despite the cues created for iBand.

What this device is, is one that helps induce lucid dreaming but not cater to the actual health benefits. Rather, it is the mental ability and state of mind of the being who is able to steer towards “healthier” living. Is iBand all that good? Maybe I should try it out first.

Human +

The Human + Series proved to be an exhibition that questions the inclusiveness of interactivity by which a prosthetic is involved in one way or another. The deeper insight to this, however, would be the social and ethical issues that would arise from modifications introduced to the human body. Will this aid us in becoming more efficient with our daily work or cause a social divide?

I think these are questions that many of us have unanswered. But, let’s take a step back and take a look at what advancements we have achieved to date.

One of the installation that struck me greatly was this. Titled: TRANSFIGURATIONS by Agatha Haines, 2013.

It was startling to me because of how far we have come to accept bodily modifications in 2017. Not long before this, we were still against this idea. But it seems that it has become increasingly alright to be bionic. 

Agatha’s work challenges the notion of bodily modification and how far a parent would give an edge to their child. And I think that the different examples presented were shocking enough to make me question the future existence of such beings.

 

 

 

 

As an installation, this totally works because of how realistic yet gruesome this looks but it also harps on the very emotions from within; a struggle between letting a child live with a disorder or be “modified” so that they can live a “normal” life.

I think that we should not allow this to happen, and even if we do, it should be a physical add-on that helps with the daily functioning of the body.

I’ve been inspired to continue this series, so look out for this page to find updated content related to this topic!