Research Critique 1: Introduction to Interactive I

Standard

Questions, I guess:

  1. What is the situation or interaction created for the participants?
  2. What is the intention for this interaction?
  3. Come up with 3 thoughtful questions that will benefit the class with regards to today’s topic.

One of my favourite artistes involved in Interactive Media has to be Blast Theory. Their projects are intriguing, deep and affectionate.

Sandra Carluccio at The Royal Albert Memorial Museum

Ghostwriter.

Image from https://www.blasttheory.co.uk/projects/ghostwriter/

Ghostwriter (2011)

Other than its very attractive name, Ghostwriter is a very intriguing project to me because of how it makes use of your 5 senses to create a wholesome experience.

According to Blast Theory on their official website,

” Visitors ring in and hear a woman whose voice gently draws you into the museum. She describes her surroundings and they seem to match yours. She describes an object in front of her and talks about its role in her life. But this line between her surroundings and yours is unstable. At times she says things that suggest she is somewhere else looking at a different object. And you can interact with her, jumping in time and space or even making a recording of your own about an object that resonates in your life.
Ghostwriter has echoes of the museum guide, of the radio heard late at night and of the writing of Paul Auster. It has a spare, metaphysical style that is part detective novel and part internal monologue. Its ghostly tenor and rich atmosphere act as a mysterious lure towards the reinvented RAMM. “

As the audience, you listen as the lady speaks to you, and she describes your very surroundings as though she is right there with you- the smell of the area, the colours, the lighting, the atmosphere, etc. It is eerily mysterious, yet you are tempted to find out more and to experience what she sees. I guess one of the intriguing points of this project is about how different people have different mindsets and thinking. No two person have the exact train of thought. As a result, we become curious and yearn to find out more about what another is thinking about, and to compare how they interpret things.

The situation created for the participants is one where they are able to observe their surroundings, and they are able to put in their own train of thoughts, through communicating with the main voice that has been conversing with them and spelling out their emotions while being in the same environment.

Then intention is most probably to create a quiet atmosphere where participants can be deep in their own thoughts while also having someone almost telepathically involved with them on a more emotional level.

I’d Hide You

Image retrieved from https://www.blasttheory.co.uk/projects/ghostwriter/.

I’d Hide You (2012)

This project is one of the more exciting ones they’ve done, me thinks.

According to their site, it is about:

“In I’d Hide You, see the world through the runners eyes as they stream video: ducking and diving, chatting to passersby, taking you down the back alleys to their secret hiding places. And play against your friends online at the same time. Use your wits to choose which runner to ride with. Get a snap of another runner onscreen without getting snapped and you score a point. Get snapped by someone else and you lose a life.”

This is almost like a virtual reality stage for the participants because they are very physically involved with their interactions with other players. They have to communicate while physically avoiding and attacking other players, which allows them to utilize everything they have- their own thoughts, their environment, and even their intelligence. The situation then becomes a thriller movie for each player. The intention for this project is probably to make participants be involved in both passive and active ways, and as a result causing an interaction that is very stimulating.