Chasin' Waterfalls
Exhibited/Screened:
Bitrates, Dar al Hokoomeh Gallery, Shirazan Iran
Biennial of the Americas, The World is !Flat, Public Space LED screen exhibition, Denver Colorado
HIAP Talks, Kallio Kunsthall, Helsinki Finland
During a dérive inside World of Warcraft I was drawn to a giant waterfall. With my flying mount, I (Ookitties) decided to fly up against it and jump down....several times. Despite the many modes of transportation I could use to safely get myself to the bottom, I decided to test the physics of the game and the fortitude of my avatar.
Are heroic athletic feats- the desire to strip down and break the limits of the "human" form (in this case, troll-in-leather-bikini form), and the quest for self-transcendence possible and/or honorable in the context of WoW? I don't project myself onto my character...though many players tell me they do. What does a feat of bravery and stupidity in physical space translate into in virtual space, especially when death has no consequences and is little more than an aesthetic change to black, white and wispy?