Mostly I run a mile from art that is political simply because the link from the piece to the idealism is often forced, tenuous, and 'thin'. Like when I get asked to do a piece for an "Aids" show for example... although I would of course support any attempt to "promote Aids awareness", what, in real terms could I do with a virtual landscape?? Is there actually anyone that would be affected by any particular tree that I was to build for such a show? Is there anyone who doesn't know that 'safe sex' is best?? or, am I just promoting my own stuff and packaging it up for a mildly politically correct cause, probably 10 years after the event?
Miso escapes this rather tame political agenda by creating a piece which is one she believes in, or, rather has personal opinions about, presents it dramatically and with some humour, and then, as a sort of by-product it gets taken up and appreciated by Amnesty International.
This is her press release....
""State of Mind" is an installation about the politics of information. "State" covers the topics of government propaganda, the internet and the struggle for free communications. Materials presented include the topics of rumor- and fear-mongering using altered or skewed statistics on child abuse, the war in Iraq, politics, RFID radio tags, net "piracy," spycams and disinformation, and images and captions designed to evoke irrational and emotional responses for the purpose of manipulation by the principles of "psyops," a military use of advertising techniques.
"State of Mind" is a multimedia installation. The piece is a combined work including sound, graphics and a dataweb linking to many sources of information on the subjects included in the installation. The piece will engage avatar interaction as well as avatar exploration and discovery. "State" appears as a "state fair" to point out the absurdity and slanted way in which these serious matters are being treated in the media and the tendency to trivialize and mock issues in order to divert debate.
Unique to this installation is the ability of any avatar to spy on and watch all other avatars in the installation through a network of hidden cameras, to bring home the reality and saturation of such hidden cameras in our daily life.
Avatars are REQUIRED to wear a "RFID" identification bracelet in order to tour the installation; an automatic ejection system will send any avatar not wearing the ID tag to their home rez point to underline the compulsory nature of state id cards, fingerprinting and required radio identification."
It is surprisingly shocking to have to force your avatar to do things which in FL we take as the norm, and exposes the inhumanity of it very clearly...
It is a must see....here... before the 30th....
:))
Posts
ty Soror for such a nice review (even after you had to 'lose your head' at the gate).
ReplyDeleteYes, 'State' is a personal reaction/exorcism to the propaganda and war-drumming environment I am surrounded by currently in the US. I am very gratified that people like Amnesty International and like you have found the installation to be both provacative and interesting (and fun! I hope you got a CheezBurger© and some FreedomFries!).
"Surprisingly shocking" indeed; i have taken people on walks in RL and pointed out the cameras watching them in a three-block area... and most people I know are unaware of the RFID tags currently IN their US driver's licenses and passports. SL allowed me to highlight these things in a way which I am hoping makes these issues visible, and so engenders some debate and discussion.
"State of Mind" will be at Excalibur Studios in Aquitaine until the end of April, when it will move to a longer showing at the BORDC (Bill of Rights Defense Committee) land in the 4 Bridges/Amnesty sim.
Just curious...
ReplyDeleteDoes it require the use of Viewer 2's "HTML on a prim" feature to see the hidden camera images?
Lalo - no, but there's some confusion about the BijoCam HUD - the HUD will be invisible until you paste into open chat the Cam Key, which is given in the "The Cameras" notecard in the Orientation Kit. If you didn't get that notecard, it is in the Document Briefcase in Room 101, or the BijoCam sign at the entrance.
ReplyDeleteFYI, the CamKey is:
/202 arrivalcam,compliancecam,gatecam,gatecam2,pillarcam1,pinwheelcam1,webcam,lateralcam,riflecam,macspycam,pillarcam2,longcam,mousecam,pillarcam3,burgercam,photocam,tv_area,tvcam1,tvcam2,tvcam3,tvcam4,godcam,beachcam
You may have to tap an ARROW key (< > ^ v) to engage the cam-lock... you also must give permission in the blue Notice that comes up when you address the cameras.
Hope that helps - the cams are way fun :)
Miso