'The Avatar of the Uncanny Valley' is a project that engrossed me for one month in Spring 2008, after the idea to use Mori’s concept for a process based art work (in which I would observe, document and write upon the changes that came about through changing the appearance of my avatar Alpha) took hold.
At this point I had been a resident of Second Life for just over a year but had already become a competent builder, and my creative activities in the metaverse were almost exclusively grounded in externalized building. Although I had been much preoccupied with my relationship with Alpha, I had yet to embark upon manipulating the avatar as an artifact, most likely because I was simply too wrapped up in my virtual persona to consider it as an entity that could be worked with/upon in such a manner, that an extension of my ‘self’ held the potential to become an art work in its own right.
That said, I was already aware that Alpha held a strange dichotomy, one begging for further investigation, embedded within her very being: She was both ‘me’ and yet ‘not me’ – and furthermore she was the only one occupying this overpowering role at that time since I did not yet have alt avatars through which I could have shifted my attention away from her.
Throughout this time, as my sole extension in the metaverse, Alpha’s appearance was as identical to my own as I could possibly get her to be: Although she was younger than me, nonetheless she looked like me, she most certainly dressed like me, usually clad in black jeans, hiking boots and a black tshirt as I also often appear in Real Life – albeit with minor modifications such as having grown a neko tail and ears at some point of our joint life. These however, were no major deviations from ‘me,’ given my life-long association and deep empathy with cats.
That I had accomplished the transition to the full identification between human and avatar through Alpha’s presence and appearance is obvious in retrospect. The fact that Alpha was such a close replication of my physical self probably intensified the transition as well. It is said that such an appearance is preferred because of its tendency to bring about a close identification between the player and the virtual extension of his/her ‘self,’ easing the transition into full identification between avatar and human.
Alpha does not deviate from this pattern and is hence a look-alike avatar. Since there appeared to be significant bonding and identification as a result of this resemblance between us, the assignment which I gave myself was to investigate the limits of this bonding through the creation of a series of appearances who would still look like me but be differentiated enough to appear to be non-human and/or off kilter enough to evoke a negative response that might potentially result in the loosening of the bond. I also have to say at this juncture that given the strength of the bond between us, this was not an easy decision. If anything it felt like stepping off a mental precipice to embark upon the project.
Reading Kristeva’s text as a literary masterpiece, and applying a regimen of transformation in which, at the point when Mori’s graph took the dip, ‘I’ would become a personification of revulsion and horror to ‘myself,’ are two different mindsets altogether.
This is not something to be contemplated lightheartedly, and I most certainly did not do so either.
Nonetheless, my fascination outweighed my misgivings and over the course of the next month Alpha metamorphosed into a series of personalities that ranged from mythological creatures such as a siren and two succubuses to a steampunk queen of extreme adornment and beauty; and from various mechanoid, or semi-android/mechanoid beings to a decomposing/dead body.
I documented the various uncanny incarnations of Alpha through photographs and I also kept an emotional response log, part of which was published online as photo captions that accompanied the photographs on Flickr.
The documentation of the project consists of a set of 148 images on Flickr, which are only a selection that I made from a much bigger collection that is located on my hard drive, and a video compiled of these images that follows the transition from canny to uncanny to solace.
At this point I had been a resident of Second Life for just over a year but had already become a competent builder, and my creative activities in the metaverse were almost exclusively grounded in externalized building. Although I had been much preoccupied with my relationship with Alpha, I had yet to embark upon manipulating the avatar as an artifact, most likely because I was simply too wrapped up in my virtual persona to consider it as an entity that could be worked with/upon in such a manner, that an extension of my ‘self’ held the potential to become an art work in its own right.
That I had accomplished the transition to the full identification between human and avatar through Alpha’s presence and appearance is obvious in retrospect. The fact that Alpha was such a close replication of my physical self probably intensified the transition as well. It is said that such an appearance is preferred because of its tendency to bring about a close identification between the player and the virtual extension of his/her ‘self,’ easing the transition into full identification between avatar and human.
Alpha does not deviate from this pattern and is hence a look-alike avatar. Since there appeared to be significant bonding and identification as a result of this resemblance between us, the assignment which I gave myself was to investigate the limits of this bonding through the creation of a series of appearances who would still look like me but be differentiated enough to appear to be non-human and/or off kilter enough to evoke a negative response that might potentially result in the loosening of the bond. I also have to say at this juncture that given the strength of the bond between us, this was not an easy decision. If anything it felt like stepping off a mental precipice to embark upon the project.
Reading Kristeva’s text as a literary masterpiece, and applying a regimen of transformation in which, at the point when Mori’s graph took the dip, ‘I’ would become a personification of revulsion and horror to ‘myself,’ are two different mindsets altogether.
This is not something to be contemplated lightheartedly, and I most certainly did not do so either.
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Representations that fall into the Uncanny Valley would not necessarily have to be mechanoid - or at least that is what I would imagine. Something which is humanoid yet clearly non-human, should also qualify. It would however have to have negative subconscious associations, such as a succubus surely must have. I am reading up on my Freud to see if I can find any substantiation for this claim in what he has to say upon the subject of the Uncanny.
This one has ended up becoming more ominous, although for some strange reason I find the all white smoke succubus more unsettling. But, one way or another, although I enjoy taking these photos, I am feeling very alienated from Alpha as I do it. For the first time since I met her she is no longer an extension of my persona - I can not relate to her or to how she looks. AT ALL!
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Nonetheless, my fascination outweighed my misgivings and over the course of the next month Alpha metamorphosed into a series of personalities that ranged from mythological creatures such as a siren and two succubuses to a steampunk queen of extreme adornment and beauty; and from various mechanoid, or semi-android/mechanoid beings to a decomposing/dead body.
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I add the clockwork skin to the steampunk arms and legs and remove the hair and ears. Now, I think, Alpha is closer to the Valley. There definitely has to be something to this theory: I do not feel good subjecting Alpha to all of this and the subtle shifts from human to only peripherally human make me feel decidedly uncomfortable.
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So, these avatars are well differentiated into being non-human. As such they would have to fall outside the Valley threshold.
But do they I wonder?
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But do they I wonder?
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I documented the various uncanny incarnations of Alpha through photographs and I also kept an emotional response log, part of which was published online as photo captions that accompanied the photographs on Flickr.
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In the very depth of the valley:
This is truly horrifiying. I had a really hard time doing this...
I saw the Cyborg skin on space ship designer Ichtyo Broome, but seeing it on someone else is not quite the same as putting it on yourself. I did have a sense that clothing Alpha in this skin would be a very difficult thing to do and it took me a really long time to even decide to go out and purchase the skin. But finally I did it yesterday. The bones are the bones of the whale avatar of Flea Bussy.
So, this is the end of the road for now: I have raked this as deep as I think can go at the moment without totally cracking up over it. One of my favorite writers is Mishima and what I think of as one of his best books is entitled "The Decay of the Angel". And that is what should probably be the title of these.
I saw the Cyborg skin on space ship designer Ichtyo Broome, but seeing it on someone else is not quite the same as putting it on yourself. I did have a sense that clothing Alpha in this skin would be a very difficult thing to do and it took me a really long time to even decide to go out and purchase the skin. But finally I did it yesterday. The bones are the bones of the whale avatar of Flea Bussy.
So, this is the end of the road for now: I have raked this as deep as I think can go at the moment without totally cracking up over it. One of my favorite writers is Mishima and what I think of as one of his best books is entitled "The Decay of the Angel". And that is what should probably be the title of these.
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The documentation of the project consists of a set of 148 images on Flickr, which are only a selection that I made from a much bigger collection that is located on my hard drive, and a video compiled of these images that follows the transition from canny to uncanny to solace.
