swarm, 2006
swarm
endlessly cool
grey/white mist gently bites our faces
tingling, caressing, teasing
they emerge…
bubbling up from swirling watercolour streams
willows weeping alongside arched bridges
ragged peaks of muted silver willow pattern landscapes
throbbing hissing swarm of hovering creatures engulfs us
darting, squirming towards our warm flesh
translucent copper tinged skin reveals soft neon rivulets
pulsing code-base
absent intensity lurks within fragility
they are the lost feeders
retreating deep into unseen crevices …
alone in white silence
swarm 3d networked virtual environment is filled with a.life creatures, soft-coded bodies activating, coming to life within the void… their electronic lifeworlds. Conceptually it focuses on the discreet aliveness of avatars, which have emerged as a new breed of creature, in online multi-user environments.
swarm is situated in the void of white virtual space. White dimensionless visceral fog would physically envelop the users body in a connected 3d immersive space (such as a CAVE installation). The user then interacts with the electronic environment via sensors in the physically located space. I envision this electronic-scape as delicate line-drawn game type environment, perhaps the bubbling streams, arched bridges, fog filled valley and rugged mountains of Asian willow pattern type landscapes in muted silvery tones - the pared back aesthetic allowing for more engagement and user transference than realistic rendered spaces.
The users movements activate iridescent swarming soft-coded insect creatures within the electronic lifeworlds, which are attracted to the body heat of the user and swarm around them. Other users entering the space via the grid, the network or in the same physical location, enter into competition for the swarms attentions. The resultant semi translucent relational patterns and movement become electronic nature, a network-viewable forever shifting artwork.
As this space would be network connected it would support interaction with other locally physically based on any networked platform, ie other installations, HMD or some of the many networked CAVE spaces around the globe, but also through internet terminals and 3d capable mobile devices.
This work is a voyeuristic encounter with the electronic other… in its soft skinned lifeworld, its territory, rather than one defined by our human expectations of appearance, behaviour and resolution. Daily we interact with and through these creatures, never assuming that they have a dignity and perspective of their own. The code-based soft skinned creates of swarm remind us that individuality is not fixed and impenetrable. We are not discrete isolated objects in the world, but operate in spheres of influence and fields of intensity; part of a connected whole.