|
Concept
WOWM
It is probably true quite generally that in the history of human thinking the most fruitful developments frequently take place at those points where two different lines of thought meet. These lines may have their roots in quite different parts of human nature, in different times or different cultural environments or different religious traditions: hence if they actually meet, that is, if they are at least so much related to each other that a real interaction can take place, then one may hope that new and interesting developments may follow.
- Werner Heisenberg, founder of quantum mechanics
//Summary//
Wrapping Our Warped Minds is an online experiment performed by the members of the WOWM.org group. It is based on direct communication with the online audience from ordinary chat rooms; presenting them (at one person at the time) specific art projects with intention to explore ''healing'' through art. Wowm.org is committed to assisting the e-lonely audience in gentle awakening through art with software created specially for this purpose by NYC based firm ARTSYNC.
Project has started June 16.2000 and will continue to June 16.2002 when it will be ended with the real audience venue marking the centenary of happening in the James Joyce's novel 'Ulysses'.
We expect the audience/participants to experience this happening at many levels (engaging the diversity of Minskian 'agents' in their minds):
- as a powerful and engrossing artistic experience
- as a stimulating set of interactive games
- as an exploration of a mind, and of the nature of
artistic and creative experience
- as a demonstration of the positive capacity of
technology to enhance personal expression,and to
encourage interpersonal collaboration and
communication
- as a powerful, joyous and unifying journey, with
cohesion emerging from complex fragments
- as a new synthesis of art, technology and
communication
WOWM members:
Sam Carter Maeght, New York,
sam@wowm.org
Nick Hargraves, London,
nick@eloneliness.net
Wrapping Our Warped Minds//
The question looming among computer graphics, artist-teaching professionals back in 1993-94... "Is this tool (the computer) indeed creating a new medium for artists or is it, in fact, only being used to mimic other conventional fine art media such as painting, printmaking, and photography?"... has an answer. There are now many artists whose evolved personal vision flows naturally from the multitudinous technical & aesthetic options of computer technology. Actually, artists are among those who push the capabilities of this tool the best!
And the WOWM.org has decided to push it even forward: to 'paint' with our minds. There are many, many good web sites for help online: MNH, Survivors Art Foundation, Action for Unitive Healing, Walking Dreams and Warrior Women,etc.; and some of them are specialised for the exploring the healing effects of art/ art therapy is there complementary care to the traditional treatment for illness. But they all have that insufficient factor to achieve more spread results: you have to come to them at the first place.
WOWM.org enters in the common chat rooms /this year experiment is based mostly on the chat rooms at msn.co.uk/. In the normal chat procedure /which eventually leads to the Netmeeting/ begins 'art performance' in one-to-one chat with presenting ARTSYNC software/or art links and files. ARTSYNC is based on java applet and enables to participants simultaneous drawing and works on the netmeeting whiteboard. As a species, human beings need 'face-to-face' interactions, and those interactions are displayed in such a way they are dependent upon situational expectations that effect conduct of the individual 'actors' participating in the communicative exchange. With ARTSYNC those interactions comes to the unexplored field yet: to someone who entered the chat for any of the reasons (cybersex, to find that special someone, just to chat!, etc...) is given opportunity to participate in the unexpected event. But the response was/is phenomenal! Although at the beginning of the project we were little confused about to which boundaries we are allowed to go, in the one-to-one conversations everything has passed very well. Advantage of anonymity in this unique social situation was useful, but not crucial. Art by itself was almost a sacred word/place. Computer mediated communication has created just a social environment for transmitting the art projections with our minds: providing the comfort and safe zones to the needed ones. Expanding our minds (wrapping them into the art envelopes) as an art tool is our donation of ourselves and as that can't be ongoing project forever. So it will be concluded on June16.2002 after two years of existence with the live venue / real audience during the performance and published results of project.
Web site www.wowm.org archives our experiences/'art results' accomplished with our on-line audience. Visitors to the web site can interact even after their on-line experience: straightforward comments; simple request and response; complex narratives over time; involvement with other ongoing projects/special links; browsing archive/viewing other's 'art results'; downloading art files used in the chat.
//PROPOSAL FOR THE PROJECT EXHIBITION INSIDE THE CONTEINER//
dark inside, only two pc, opposite one to another, one for the 'wrapper', other for the momentary viewer, sound surrounding: sounds of login, logoff, new e-mail, message alerts,etc...
pc are connected with artsync, 'wrapper' doesn't talk with the visitor, keyboard is the only meaning of the communication: e-loneliness!
Back
|
