2005 Rockefeller New Media Foundation Proposal

Abstract

The river journey is the form of this installation in which a participant is a traveler in a mythic voyage through the ages of a nation, Vietnam. Beginning at dawn, the participant navigates through three levels: a past lived close to nature, a time of horrific upheaval and violence, and a time of adapting and rebuilding. The participant will encounter a dim space with a 9x12' screen and a suspended game paddle. Approaching the screen will trigger an initial animated sequence inviting the viewer to "play". Interaction is accomplished both with the paddle functions and by moving physically within the space. Although this is not literally a video game, it echoes video game techniques and formulas, inverting the typical first person shooter game form and inviting an experience of a different sort.