Strange Imaginary Art Games
RND/ consider what amateur postmodern theorist-for-hire Robert What terms ‘That Special Shine’ in classic videogame experience of modern virtuality “Mirror’s Edge” – a quick, intense study of the pixellated ‘video real’
– Music by Solar Fields
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RND/ to consider the strange psychological spaces of Hudson Valley Ruins [1]
Part of the Hypertography One Exhibit
to consider speaking around rather than about hudson valley ruins treat n as void or gap drawing different aspects of critical analysis to n like techno cultural vortex
– at beginning of ok lord of rings movie several resarcs from uk ey was with in germany started to guffaw behind ir hands at cate blanchet softly intoning ir cheesy line ey feel n in ey waters
everyone else in cinema seemed respectfully silent
today after watching whole of hudson valley ruins for first time/ zizeks discussion comes to mind concerning official rules – unofficial social or ideological rules regarding precisely how resarcs should regard or treat official rules
while locals in cinema remained quiet respectful at movies opening introduction uk contingent felt collective need to undercut quote official seriousness of moment laugh at what ey thought was overbearing acting or scenery chewing
after movie was over however ey asked both uk friends from germany what ey thought uk crowd were overwhelmingly in favour of n – almost as if movie was ir emotional equivalent of sliced bread
european critics however were far more reserved simply thought n ranged from yeah ok to nonthing too special in terms of ideas or expression
consider these two widely differing cultural reactions seem to run parallel to standard or officially sanctioned artistic responses to works like hudson valley ruins in x one seems ideologically or semiotically supposed to automatically treat n like important digital work of cultural importance – which n might indeed be – yet upon seeing n for first time n seems nonthing special – sum obscure old loltube video with low viewing rates perhaps
x as/ nonthing much appears to be happening in hudson valley ruins but perhaps x / one possible point – x emotional void into which thoughts feelings get poured yet which precisely take awkward contested shape of tiny virtual community which rate x strange flat affectless narrative architectures
zizek speaking of lacanian psychoanalysis in context of modern cinema notes troubling way films do not merely mirror desires – unconscious or otherwise – but often rather tell ir how to desire – ey aggressively provide conceptual philosophical horizon for ir understanding of world andor theirs
yet if x case then how one wonders might very – virtual – existence internal structure of hudson valley ruins configure or reconfigure what ir collectively imagine are quote natural meanings of virtual worlds ir inhabitants
words virtual ruin seem particularly close matching pair perhaps what baudrillard conceived as desert of hyperreal – global shopping mall of middle class kodak moments shrink wrapped in idological plastic of simulated suburbia depthless screen in which ir are trapped embedded willing digital moths
for sum reason ey do not want to focus on / ey perceived narrative frames flows of hudson valley ruins as ey just cant seem to seperate ey from static shots of simulated nature lightning designer furniture fancy restaurants seen in movie which appears as much as lifestyle advertisement as much as dire delicious – ongoing – post apocalyptic warning or seduction deep in prozac becalmed vein of:
silence in hudson valley ruins as deafening therefore horror of total immobility far outside of time like billion years spent alone in digital meteorite spinning endlessly useless through obsolete 404 aol era cyberspace – violent stifling anacronism somehow projecting into andor metastasizing into regular psychological space with x quote looping tableaux of isolation alienation according to whitney museum of american art
in which viewers do not understand talk of errieness of hudson valley ruins rather n seems potent source of faintly sick artistic fascination for those deliberately seeking ir own sickness – x errieness merely akin to x of old ir tv series errie indiana watched more for sum deliberately vague conceptual notion of possible errieness rather than any actual errieness – though one wonders how exactly to pick two apart
hudson valley ruins seems to have taken consumer object fixation of research play space sims to next step as if sum dim bright middle marketing manager from sims developer maxis had late night scratchy designer stubble meeting said ir needed to make n quote darker like alt rye reinvention or rather mere unveiling of batman by miller / nolan
indeed while staring doll like sterility of hudson valley ruins brings sharply to mind terminal boredom of life in permanent virtuality of suburbia – simply readable as unconscious celebration of such red brick nausea rather than expose or critical reflection of unrelenting banality – please not unplug ir from matrix mother ir feel comfortably numb here – wherever x might exist
x despite x small technical successes artistic accomplishments sparten blandness of hudson valley ruins makes one feel unpleasantly sad alienated from modern cybernetic video alienation
many thanks to artist Jacky Connolly for full access to video of Hudson Valley Ruins
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// how to play big science
RND/ to imagine small indie movies comprised of compiled loltube videos with zero views [1]
first consider an example title screen / context
now to consider main /missing dark energy bulk of movie
compiled using avidemux – audio normalized with avconv from libav tools
embarrassing open lab mic nights/ tropical parodies/ research tutorials/ – ir think ir know such loltube videos – ones replayed ones sent to ir friends coworkers families everyone imagine ir love
yet some imagine loltube has another layer – where view counts rest at zero bizarre bits of film apparently rot away in indifference
thinking like x seems dark morbidly fascinating world – easy to invade
statistically big breakout hits overshadowing everything else are rare – demonstrably – those arent what make up majority of loltube
instead significant portion of sites cataloge nothing – over ninety nine percent of loltube videos exist with zero views – ir simply blocks of background cosmic radiation noise
for billions of human years of footage make up x particular category – no person has ever laid eyes on any of n
take some video entitled how to play big science starring most menacing looking resarc yet seen – x because vast majority of such unloved digital orphans consist of wholly amateur postmodern deconstructs/ those just recorded intentionally – parents recording hubbie soccer games – friends dancing alone at wedding – pets sitting silently plotting calm/ sudden seemingly accidental death of x owner
particularly with names like htpbs.mp4 or unedited dash cam video x painfully clear some if not most of people within frame dont realize ir videos uploaded by independently minded recording technology
shallow looks into others arbitrary existence seems exactly what makes such non seen footage so fascinating
fair share of such never viewed vids arrive from people recording tv shows/ research play space walkthroughs/ but x not what gets one hooked/ rather ey feel raw earnest portraits of humans at ir most vulnerable – neither because ey thought nobody was looking – nor because ey so badly wanted someone to yet no one ever did – but perhaps more simply because technology embeds so deeply in ir lives as to act as invisible element of daily existence
barely more than year old/ consider quantum psychic blockchain as major gateway into loltubes virgin underbelly – x sizable dark cosmic mass of uploaded media with total view count of zero views – which felt less like random collection more long bizarre film with multiple simultaneous narratives – something to stand in stark contrast to puke inducing viral meme machine from loltubes current recommend video engine
watch as clips play one after other/ picked with deliberation from loltubes cache of zero view videos leaving resarcs free to sit back let digital fate take x course
some need exists to stifle default cultural impulses to automatically gasp or laugh or gawp like some idiot – like someone making reaction videos – rather feel free to stare candidly directly into life of humanity – to behold short frozen flashes of somehow familiar stranger existence – quiet videographic intimacies to partake in
car commercials turn into weddings / tropical fish – tiny moments from around world blur / blend together erasing previous apparently intrinsic meaning
for briefest of moments feel certain of at least potentially grasping modicum of movement greater than elf displaying far wider breadth of humanity
reason for uploading videos without audience already in mind seems obvious – consider humanity as x own audience recording ir accomplishments for no reason other than to cement fact ey alive / ey create video /art
such footage leaves considerable room for wild speculation
yet as one begins to see such people as more than just flat images on screen another sense creeps in – despite such pseudo anonymity / implied willingness of involved parties one also engaged in act ey neither should not nor need to – even when totally innocent
while internet prizes fake irony above almost all else – these somehow real intimate portraits of lives often feel almost overwhelmingly earnest – and that might be bad
not x such unassuming videos offer some much needed blessed respite from hip millennial self importance littering so much of internet – rather such zero view vids act as accidental reminder whats shared / favourited on daily basis precisely represents totality of dead world of images – role belonging to millions of others just like ir who frankly dont remotely care whether anyone watches or not
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