Jeff Lovett A collection of research in process.

Third Person Pack Thoughts

This entry is an experiment in Open Source art making. I will keep updating my thoughts and interactions with the work, if anyone has any inclination to recreate

Titles:

Third Person Pack

it goes with the Aural Extension pack...

Third person may not get the video game reference.

Video Game View

Limits the scope of the work.

I'm stuck in a three word title for the piece.

Define:

What does the piece actually do?

The piece shifts your view point about 7' behind and 1' above it's normal location. 

It limits your peripheral vision. 

puts you in close contact with a computer

It creates an immersive environment within the the actual environment. 

Thoughts:

One of the things I'm interested in with this piece is the way that it allows you to experience your experience. in that it amplifies your non visual sense which are compensating for the lack of traditional sight while it gives you a new point of view to incorporate into your perception of the environment. 

The play between the traditional and immersive mediated experience is magic. When I'm wearing the apparatus, almost feel as though my physical sensations are mediated to make the video image more real. Almost like a full sensory package for a video game, or virtual reality experience. 

One of the most interesting aspects of the work is the relationship that I developed with my contact with the ground. I became very aware of my feet and how they interfaced with the varying textures of the earth. 

Along with a lack of peripheral you also loose the ability to look by turning your head. Turning your body to look is where I began to notice the perception of my self grow. When you turn with the piece on you back the 7' "tail" becomes the radius of your personal circle. While the physicality of the space is obvious and important, the perceptual experience of taking up that much more space is profound. It is as though someone has mounted your eyes in the air behind you.

There are also many digital concepts behind the work. The driving concept behind the work was in creating a device that is a like a methadone for die-hard gamers, Internet addicts and second lifers. While I find this line of thought intriguing and humorous, I feel like the work and, through it, the experience is much more viceral and at the same time more broad than that. 

How concerned am I with the concept? Is it the experiment that I want to share?

In a studio visit with Matthew Friday, he suggested to me that my work should grow out of experimentation not concept. It is only now that I am becoming aware of the fact that this almost certainly will apply to use of these devices. The obvious question has been what to do with the piece. 

I have a worry about it becoming a carnival ride. Although I'm not sure why I'm worried about that.

The real solution is to present it as:

• a carnival ride
• a performance
• a booth at the fair
• a gallery piece accompanying the sterile artifact of the object
• allow it to exist in scheduled individual experiences
• a video of a walk with no record of the device
• an experience mapping device
• an obstacle augmentation device
• etc.

It's early winter and I think the next month should be primarily exploration of the device.

Share/Save