Contact Me
Dɪsəˈpɪərəns (2023)
CLICK TO PLAY GAME!
‘Dɪsəˈpɪərəns’ (Disappearance) is an online interactive fiction game that addresses socially relevant topics, including online surveillance, data privacy, and technology dependence.
Inspired by Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley’s exhibition at Arebyte Gallery, this game similarly employs interactivity and storytelling to create an immersive experience. It invites players to question how their choices and actions (or inactions) affect others directly.
The game follows the story of an anonymous ‘disappearance’. The suspense and outcomes generated by player decisions reveal themes of trepidation and deception, reorienting their understanding of responsibility. Simultaneously,the work also questions our engagement with media, specifically, our interaction with social networks, online platforms and digital dissemination strategies.
> Inspiration & Research
An obsession of mine is my fascination with horror and thriller movies, especially those with science-fiction genres.Often watching these movies alone, I admire the experience of stimulation that can be gained from a small screen.
In this project, I aimed to focus on the use of sound, text, and horror game aesthetics to portray a surreal yet somewhat satirical and thought-provoking view of an unknown ‘disappearance’. It engages with a generated space of expectation and dystopian ideology. The combination of sound and text, accompanied by intense psychedelic imagery, allows the game to create a disconnected and alienated experience for audiences. Otherworldly and gender non-conforming atmospheres begin to emerge.
The title ‘Dɪsəˈpɪərəns ’ holds a level of uncertainty, almost resembling a cliff-hanger before the occurrence of a terrifying event. I was thinking about Toby Meakins’ film ‘Choose or Die’ (2022) which provoked the representation of violence and death through a 1980s survival computer game. I was also inspired by the Black Mirror episode ‘Shut up and Dance’ (2016), where the male protagonist is engulfed by his curiosities on the internet, resulting hackers to record his actions through the webcam. Focusing on similar relationships between fiction and the internet, I draw on the encounters and exposure of terrifying acts to question our engagement with media.
> Methodology & Process
The writing process embarked from lots of reading; to questions that sparked my concern on the definition of ‘disappearance’. I was writing with the idea that this would, partially be a script, but also a narrative that guides players into a series of instructions within the game. I originally wanted to write this text in the form of ‘leetspeak’, a language made out of numerals and unique symbols, often used online. This was to deceivingly portray how we encounter and use the Internet.
I was hoping this would isolate an experience that feels mechanical and artificial. I enjoy this poetic way of demanding the audience to understand themselves as that ‘you’, then taking responsibility for being the person. By disabusing the players into making their own choices, they begin to realise that they are not only playing for fun, but also noticing that the story is altered and determined by their own responses.
When it came to creating the visuals and designing the aesthetic of the game, a lot of the video footage and images were in actual fact taken with little effort. Some came from little snippets of my face, whilst others were video footages of an empty room. By distorting the footages and creating my own 'world' using real images reinstates the idea of blending fiction with reality. As such, the use of pixelated imagery and stereoscopic 3D effects, are often designed to distort human vision.
To induce heightened senses, I created psychedelic, alienating imagery by layering, erasing, and distorting the original content. This was an interesting approximation of my imagination being relayed into media, making the work even more personal.
> How it works
Our ‘familiarity’ with technology and the anonymity of identity in video games has become increasingly commonly used to gather data. This reaffirmed my decision on using a ‘game-like’ system to examine the Internet. I believe that our true natures are revealed by many choices we make. Similarly in video-games, this is an interesting way to betray our hidden selves given by their interactive nature. Hence, our desires, even subconscious desires, may affect the way we navigate the Internet.
By collecting the players responses (personal data), which is now integrated with fictional elements; it is within these data-driven devices where players use their creative choices and actions to create versions of digital/fictional identity.
I am interested in exploring how we can escape the current monopolization of the internet. By using the concept of 'gaming,' which often carries 'childish' connotations, I aim to create a sense of humor that juxtaposes the vast possibilities presented by the internet. My goal is to reveal our ignorance regarding these pressing issues.
To further address the ethical issues of reusing, manipulating, and collecting personal information already shared on the internet, players were instructed to input a date for their 'scheduled disappearance,' with some choosing their own birthdays.
Ironically, players become subject to their own actions. At the end of the game, a remotely-controlled webcam is activated to capture an image of the player’s face. This aims to re-inflict discomfort, fear, and potential guilt, serving as a constant reminder that the consequences stem from their personal choices.
My original intentions were more ambitious: to use a functional digital camera that automatically captures the player’s image with a flash for distortion. However, technical issues prevented this. I also wanted to create live footage of players, allowing the game to be experienced from two perspectives. This raises questions about the relationship between participants and viewers.
What if viewers could alter the player’s choices. If real-time feedback from anonymous outsiders enabled collective participation, it would spark further conversations about control and power dynamics.
> Those Who Were Loyal (2023)
‘THOSE WHO WERE LOYAL’ is a VR project which sought to antagonize traditional modes of perception and ethics in the virtual domain. The interface is overflowed with information, data and digital photographs of disappearing identities – derived from ‘Dɪsəˈpɪərəns’. The overwhelming scene leaves viewers in complete isolation and at the state of being perplexed.
In ‘Dɪsəˈpɪərəns’, the game supposedly informs players they are in ‘full control’. From having human-computer interaction by moving the mouse, typing on a keyboard, and making decisions; I now attempt to produce a piece of work that takes away these interventions. Specifically, I intend viewers to gaze upon scenes of vulnerability and horror without the ability to take action.
Using Blender and A-Frame, I populated a 3D spherical space with images and data previously collected from the game. I created individual panels to draw a parallel between fiction and reality. The title of this piece was created as a humorous way to emphasize the player’s loyalty to the game. From providing personal data, to following instructions.
