Reynolds 9-7

For this week’s blog the three links I’ve focused on are ‘DISTANCE,’ ‘Redridinghood,’ and ‘DAKOTA.’ In my opinion the conceptual frameworks (context/format) for these stories share similar qualities but evoke different feelings and thoughts. The net artists blur the distinction between autobiography and fiction through the very medium they are using. The electronic environment is basically impersonal because interpersonal relationships are separated by a screen and cyberspace. Even when totally truthful on line, actual identity is blurred because “technology is a veil,” we are just, “pixels on the screen.” 

In Donna Leischman’s cartoon like and remixed redridinghood narrative, she used the well known children’s fairy tale Little Red Ridinghood as a conceptual framework because of its familiarity to most people. It’s an instantly recognizable, relatable, and symbolic story of a young girl who is confronted by the big bad wolf, which sounds like some contemporary relationships today.  In other words, a seemingly naive girl is confronted by a seasoned womanizer.  The viewer interacts with the narrative by pointing and clicking, slowly moving the two characters through the story.   Their faces were flat and their expressions never appeared very happy.  Even though one already knows the story you still feel the apprehension, anxiety, and uneasiness surrounding the relationship. It’s possible that Leischman’s version of Little Red Ridinghood could have related to her alternate persona.  Maybe she was making a social statement in general, or had an experience in which she encountered a type of man that appeared friendly or harmless, but was really unpredictable and menacing.  I don’t think the click/point interactivity took away from the story, it moved it along from a different angle/vantage point. 

In Tina Laporta’s ‘Distance’ it was easy to follow because I could move at my own speed through the story and analyze the presentation at my own pace.  It’s hard to say whether or not Laporta created an alternate persona. The digital narrative was like looking at a computer screen with each photograph freeze-framing a variety of alternating images of different men and women.  In cyberspace she could have been assuming different identities/personas, or the various faces were many women interacting with one or just a few men. The text makes the presentation appear as if only two people are communicating with each other.  Laporta states, “technology is a veil” and “is the virtual real.”  When in cyberspace we can easily be veiled and change our identity.  It was a very interesting visual experience and conceptually intriguing.

In Young Hae-Chang’s ‘DAKOTA’ the conceptual framework seemed like an extremely fast digital flipbook.  The tempo of the presentation was staccato, flashing, black and white text in alternating sizes.  The motion and the visual made me feel uncomfortable, anxious, and almost nauseated.  It was a creative work of digital art, but also a disagreeable read. The story is about some guys on a drunken escapade or dangerous adventure which takes place in the Dakotas.  The background drumming music escalates as the guys become more intoxicated and filled with bravado.   The black and white lettering seemed very linear and rather hypnotic.  It could have been the creator’s autobiographical experience or just his psychological take on drunken male bonding in a stark unsympathetic parking lot.   Perhaps he had a memory of a friend or someone who had died violently at a young age and his feelings underlying this narrative.

I experienced these artworks as synthesis of literature, reading a book, and performing arts.  These distinctions become less arbitrary and more blended in electronic environments.