[-empyre-] Reengagin the visceral



For the SLSA conference in Maine (nov 1) I'm writing a piece called,
"remediating the viscera", basically how I think it's so strange that we
bring the issues of embodiment into a place where embodiment is so
abstracted.

It comes from having tramped around a little and found it merely odd;
not titillating in the least.  Then, I was teleported in to find an av
friend of mine, Beavis Pavlowski, was bored, donned a giant flatulent
Pac-Man Clyde outfit, and was driving a Lucky Chair zone into a frenzy.

So, from seeing a giant farting Pac-Man monster creating such a gigantic
ruckus in a world with simulated Barbie sex, gender bending, race at a
mouse click, I thought (it's actually fairly simple) why is all of this
embodiment mess following us into the virtual?  It's pretty basic
Turkle/McLuhan, and maybe Kroker, but all philosophy aside, it's just so
STRANGE that SL citizens would want to fart, or even have interactive
pornography.

But on the issue of "beauty" I love ugly avatars; old dumpy ones like
Beavis, middle aged ones like Ian Ah, and it's also the reason why I
"live" in Ian Ah's favela with him on the side of Odyssey, fight over
the wOOt Loops the goods in our dumpster and fight for the Porta-toilet.

On the identity extension and embodiment issue, and one want to bring up
similarities between the Surrealist Bellmer and ageplay artists like Zoe
Hartnell and Fwixxli Swindlehurst? 

I'm hitting a lot of points quickly without developing them; I hope it's
a good trigger for discussion.



Patrick Lichty
- Interactive Arts & Media
  Columbia College, Chicago
- Editor-In-Chief
  Intelligent Agent Magazine
http://www.intelligentagent.com
225 288 5813






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