Week 8: What are divergent streams?

 Chapter 7: Divergent streams

    This chapter explores divergent and emerging genres of e-lit and focuses on the idea that existing genres of e-lit "serve as building blocks for other, [newer] forms" of e-lit. Divergent streams of e-lit are defined as "extensions" of conventional e-lit genres "into new spaces, environments, and disciplines." There are many divergent genres of e-lit which are breaking further boundaries regarding storytelling & narratives, four of which the chapter discusses. "Locative narratives" use locative technology (GPS & IP addresses) to "layer narrative and poetic experiences in the world around us." "Digital literary instillations" "extend techniques from e-lit into arts and performance environments," often featuring kinetic texts, narrative storytelling, or network inputs. These instillations often use elements of interactivity, collaboration, and location to further their impact on the viewer. "Virtual and augmented reality narratives" are literary works which use VR and AR systems throughout a narrative, story, or artistic work. Finally, "interactive and combinatory cinema" apply techniques common in e-lit to construct "cinematic experiences." 

"Motto" by AATOA

    I chose to delve into Motto, and I thought it was really cool. I've never played something like this, it's kind of like BeReal if the users posted based off a prompt. I was impressed with the scale of users that the game featured, and its prioritization of collaboration & interaction was definitely its biggest strength. The process of taking a photo of yourself or your surroundings is an easy task, but of course, the process is more fun if you get to do it yourself. It's more fun to watch & participate in taking a picture than simply to see others' photos. Also, the app connects people from different locations through the process of including diverse user photos in its narrative. The fun of Motto is that you can see content from anyone, anywhere. The user is just a normal person who downloaded the app, like you. You can go from seeing an older woman with a unique hat to seeing a young gentleman in a foreign country (those photos were presented to me, one right after the other, if you couldn't tell). I think this is an interesting project that shows how contemporary technology can function to increase social connection.

"Hearts and minds: The interrogations project" by Roderick Coover, Scott Rettberg, Daria Tsoupikova, et al.

    I chose to bring "Hearts and minds: The interrogations project" to the table for this week. The reason I chose this piece was because I was incredibly curious of what exactly it was when I read the description of it in the textbook. It depicts the difficult truths about torture (and what is does to the human mind) and shows characters (inspired by real people) grappling with many mental health issues that were elicited by their participation in war torture. It uses research from real American soldiers who tortured detainees during the Iraq War in the early 2000s, and psychological research on the "cycle of abuse". Even though I didn't really have any expectations of what it would be, it still surprised me. One thing that shocked me was how massive the CAVE screen is. It's a large scale, 320 degree panoramic VR screen. This takes me to my first point about how the medium is the message in this work: VR truly brings this story to life. I haven't had much experience with VR myself-- certainly not on a huge screen like this-- but even watching the project on video, I could tell that VR brings a whole new dimension to immersing the "reader" in a story. They move from being a "reader" to a watcher, or even sometimes a player. I could only imagine how much more immersive & moving this heavy & well-produced narrative would be if it was played through with one's own eyes. The viewer doesn't have to imagine the world by themself, like they would when reading a novel. The world is already there for them, and it changes directly based off what the user does to it. This leads me to my second point, which centers around the affordances that VR offers. The multi-modal nature of this project displayed notions of empathy & learned psychosocial abuse in a way that would not be possible without AR. For example, I read a bit of the script before I watched the video, and it was way more impactful when I heard it read for the second time on video. Going from reading the script to hearing a voice actor read the script connected me much more with the meaning of it. Hearing the voice actor talk about the character's regret and pain from their experiences in war while the screen showed a still, desolate desert forced me to put myself in the character's shoes. The project uses video & audio to create the painful world which the watcher would otherwise have to imagine, and this makes them think about how there are people just like the characters dealing with these struggles in real life. I imagine that a performance of the whole piece would be very powerful, and I can see why it won an e-lit award. I think more projects like this could show some interesting discoveries about how to better build notions of empathy by forcing the watcher, literally, to walk in the characters' shoes.

The script link:

https://dariatsoupikova.com/img/hearts_script.pdf 

The video link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QssUYuCjDzk&t=82s 

More videos of it:

https://www.crchange.net/hearts-and-minds/