Re: [-empyre-] residing in cyberspace

[Barrie <barriec@optusnet.com.au>]

Cheers, Barrie, on 13.1.05 12:39 PM, Chris Dodds at chris@iconinc.com.au
wrote:

> On 12/01/2005, at 11:16 PM, Barrie wrote:
> 
>> Perhaps we have to wait for the web/electronic media to be more accessible, -
>> a cinematic broadband, more portable - ebooks etc. A cinematic web and a
>> really hand-friendly sexy ebook device like the iPod. I find the Xbox really
>> engaging, some games pull me along, others digust me. Net radio works for me,
>> listening to rebroadcasts of interviews, alt music stations etc.
>> 
> You only have to look at the popularity of online, 3D, avatar-based games
> such as Second Life [http://www.secondlife.com] or The Sims Online
> [http://www.thesimsonline.com] to see how mainstream the new global, virtual
> community is becoming. Any culturally marginalized individual with computer
> and broadband connection can explore new worlds and, more importantly, new
> identities from their desk. I think we're on the fringe of a new
> virtually-based culture expansion. "Players" already trade in-game credits
> for real money, and hire people to "live" their avatars while they're at
> work to get more credits.

Accessability is the issue, gamers have the gear and the motivation to do
what you are describing. Artists who want to assist communities to put their
stories online have to deal with a level of expertise that isn't going to
overwhelm them or their clients. Maybe we'll see interactive movies that
deal with community issues using perhaps tools like the korsakow-system,
http://www.korsakow.com/syndrom/start.html

But the important thing is accessibility by the makers of the material and
their audience. Online gaming is an interesting model for this and some
artists have used gaming engines for their own works; Leon Cmielewski and
Josephine Starrs. I remember a group of gamers in a virtual world who
organised a virtual march on some virtual landmark to protest the closing
down of the gaming system, they won, the system stayed up.

Telling stories, about your community, your history, traditions and tribal
myths in the setting of virtual game tech could be very compelling. Is it
happening now though, certainly Flash has proved a potent way to get
interactive story telling working.


> On 6.1.05 12:45 PM, Christine Goldbeck at cgoldie@verizon.net wrote:
> 
>> I am hoping that people, men and women, who are marginalized in their own
>> culture, can use this cyberworld to explore those identities and dreams and I
>> am hoping that new media storytellers and artists are able to show them the
>> way through our work.
>> 
> Its only a matter of time before artists begin selling their concepts into
> this virtual, commercial space I've outlined above.
> 
> Cheers, christo ---------------------------------- Christopher Dodds
> Director Icon Inc - Creative Communications Floor 3, 351 Elizabeth Street
> Melbourne VIC 3000 Australia Voice +613 9642 4107 Fax +613 9642 4108
> www.iconinc.com.au www.machinima.com.au
> 
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