Re: [-empyre-] .....r(l)olling of the 3D disk.cussion ball....

[parrishka <parrishka@sympatico.ca>]

hey mez et. al,

Jill Walker wrote:

> Hi Mez! Interesting ideas.
>
> >i'm ][probably x.cessively][ interested in x.perimentation
> >generally, which x.plains my x.tensive word mangling [aka the
> >infused _mezangelle_ language that crosses code with ascii & then
> >projects this thru a networked-based chat|poesis
> >convention-blender]. i'd like 2 get the 3D disk.cussion ball
> >spinning in regards 2 projected ego-definition & identification in
> >this space termed _the net_ (by projected ego-definition i'm
> >referring 2 the way people choose 2 present themselves & their
> >projected sense/s of self in][2][ an are][n][a that allows 4
> >perpetual rewrites, making persona construction a
> >less-than-predictable phenomenon)

i've been fairly obsessed with the idea of identity construction in MOOs
for some time, playing with it on the level of programming, one layer
beneath the descriptions that jill is modifying. in MOOs, as opposed to
IRC's and the majority of MUDs, as a participant, you're given the
opportunity to hack the self, as it were.
you're represented not just by your textual description- which yes,
yields all kinds of opportunities for play and experimentation- but also
by a programmable object.
my poor player-object has undergone all kinds of surgery- she's got a
markov chain built in to her so that her/my utterances are not always
subject to my complete control.
in another frankenstein fit, i grafted a room object onto another
character of mine- creating a grotesque hybrid player-room. i sincerely
thought the MOO would explode when i built some exits off of myself and
then proceeded to enter myself. what resulted was this insane recursion,
not unlike the scene in being john malkovich when malkovich also enters
himself. i can't think about that one too long. i get seriously wiggly.

to bring this back to mez's linguistic hacking (is it fair to call it
that?) - i see these as related activities- experimenting with the
represented self on the level of linguistics codes.

katherine