Cheang Shu Lea's Brandon

Introduction:

Brandon, created by Taiwanese artist, Cheang Shu Lea in 1998, was the first web-based work to be commissioned by New York Guggenheim museum.
This narrative web project used the nonlinear and the paricipatory nature of the Internet as a means to explore and illuminate a tragic story. It is based on a true story of Teena Brandon, a gender-crossing woman in USA, who was raped and murdered in 1993 after her female anatomy has been revealed.

 

Description: 

The site is divided into several subsections and interfaces, using videos, images, texts and sounds to convey different ideas:

The bigdoll interface
A page with signs, texts and images suggesting a sense of violence and trouble. They change and disappear with mouse-clicks.

The Roadtrip interface
- Tells a finctional story of Brandon and his murder. The page includes a link to the search engine with the search word Teena Brandon. It provides further information about her tragedy.

 

The mooplay interface
- Includeds a game of role play and a chat room. Users can chande their ID and gender to hide their real identity.

 

The panopticon Interface
- A theme of punishment. The page mentions the discrimination of abnormal genders, by treating them as criminals. They are mistreated or are forced to take certain therapy.

 

 

The interfaces in Brandon are collaborative and the contents of each interface can move in and out flexibly.

 

 

Intention:

There are some deep meanings behind Brandon. The first one, quoted from New Media Art, Cheang is inviting viewers to investigate and introspect the issue of human sexuality.

"It explores Brandon Teena's story in an experimental way that conveys the "fluidity and ambiguity of gender and identity in contemporary societies. "

(Tribe, Mark; Jana, Reena (2007). New Media Art. Germany: Taschen.

The second quote, from the book Rethinking women + Cyberculture, points out that Cheang was dealing with the boundaried of actual and virtual boundaried of gender. Brandon forces viewers out of their comfort zone to speak out against transgendered discrimination.

"The Brandon site deals with themes such as boundaries and borders between actual /virtual and male/female and also questions hegemonic and  also questions hegemonic and institutional bias toward the clearly defined and conformist body."
(Flanagan, M., & Booth, A. (2002). Reload: Rethinking women+ ctberculture. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.)

 

 

Features of Web-based art:

1) Using techniques from earlier art movements
- Dada artists' provocative use and fragmented arrangement of images and text have reappeared in Brandon

2) An interest on random events/ chances
- The content of the website develops randomly according to the participation of users.

3) An interest on random events/ chance

-The content of the website develops and displays randomly according to the paricipation of users.

 

4) Audience participation

- Through the internet, Cheang makes it possible for viewers from different locations joinning together at the same time to communicate.
- She created an online chat room, encouraged viewers to participate and provide ideas on this provocative issue.
- Viewers can also rearrange or add new text and images into the website and their interpretation will become a part of the final work. In this case, users have been engaged as active participants.


Combination of the real and the virtual world:

- Brandon blurred the distinctions between real and virtual world to encourage public interaction. The work expends itself into different public events and activities, including installation, live chat format and actual performances.
- eg. The physical installation at the Guggenheim Soho's Video Wall, in New York.

Remarkable point/ own opinions:

- Interesting part: Cheang enables people to play with different gender roles and characters by using the mutable "skin" of the internet, in order to respond to the issue of gender fusion.

- Brandon is an example of "cyberfeminist art", which treats the Internet as means of freedom from social constructs like gender and sex difference.

-Cheang challenges the traditional concept of "Doing Gender". In the society, individuals are used to play with their role of gender in order to meet societal expectations. Yet, she points out that gender should be defined by our behavior instead of the nature. We belong to a certain gender because we act like that, not because of we bron in that way.

- The presentation of gender isn't conservative or immutable, instead, it can be playful and confusing.

 

Bus Uncle

1) Do you see videos such as “Bus uncle” and its copies or Chris Crocker “ Leave Britney alone” and its copies as a good addition to creative culture?

I think their copies are good addition to creative culture. Such videos are called paradies or derivative works. People make them for entertainment or expressions of their own ideas. To order to provide enjoyment to viewers, derivation videos require the good use of creative techniques, such as innovative editing methods, various visual and sound effects. Thus, they contribute to the creative culture.

2) Is the wide availability of such videos a good thing for society or not?
 

It depends on the content of such videos. If they are not ad hominem and they do not contain harmful values or messages, they can be a good thing for society because they are a source of entertainment.

 

3) How many viewers are estimated to have watched the Youtube video?

Over a million.

 

4) How would you rate the video?

Is it of high quality in technical terms? Is it interesting aesthetically (eg camera angles, use of light, the narrative), and so on?

 
Since this video is taken by a low-resolution mobile phone, it doesn't have impressive camera angles, use of light or other techniques. I don't think it contains aesthetical elements, instead, I only treat it as a record of an incident.

 

5) Does it raise interesting socio-cultural issues?

 
Although many found the video humorous and entertaining, others warned that it hinted at a more alarming and sinister prognosis of life in stress-filled Hong Kong. The video became a cultural sensation in Hong Kong, inspiring vigorous debate and discussion on lifestyle, etiquette, civic awareness and media ethics within the city, eventually attracting the attention of the media around the world.

 

6) Do you think it deserved the attention that it received from the internet community?

I think most people only treat it as a kind of show for them to tease of but it still deserves the popularity from the internet. Some people really take this incident seriously. They think the video reflects the stressful lifestyle of Hong Kong people so they keep on sharing the video. When we put our fucus on the content of the video, we'll raise our concern on societal problems.
 

Interview on Inter Dis-Communication Machine (1993)

1) Describe this work in detail.

This is an artwork of Kazuhiko Hachiya, named "Inter discommunication machine". It is a communication system which is composed by a video camera, head mounted displays, batteries and feathers. People can exchange their sense of hearing and seeing to each other. You can see and hear what your partner see and hear when using this machine.The artwork contains the sense of Taoist Cosmology which focus on the interaction between two opposite elements as a whole. By adding elements of Taoism, the artist want to express the idea of combination and independence. In this artwork, the participant and his partner' are independent but their senses of seeing and hearing are combined into one.

 

2) How does the work use technology to extend or change the abilities of the human body?

After turning on the inter-discommunication machine, human can become a communication system which will be able to transmitting and receiving sensual experiences.

 
3) What issues does this work raise (eg. about today's society/ about the effects of existing technologies/ about the potential or possibilities that new technologies might have?) 

The Inter-discommunication machine allows you to experience a whole new way of viewing the world, a non-human way.
 

According to the artist, the concept of this project is to create a “double identity self” and “mutual identity”. He created this artwork in an attempt to confuse the boundaries between “you” and “me”, to let the participants see the world from the others’ eyes, which can be drastically different from their own view. Since the so- called “world” in which we live is only the product of our subjective perception and there is diversity of perceptions of different people, the world in different people’s eyes hence varies, too. I think this machine encourages people to think about others and put yourself in other's position, in order to create a harmonious society.

Talking about New Media Art!

Dada and New Media art both describe "reactions". What did they react to?

     Dada was in part a reaction to the industrialization of warfare and the mechanical reproduction of texts and images, New Media art can be seen as a response to the information technology revolution and the digitization of cultural forms.

What are some similarities of new media art to Dada, Pop, Video Art?

Pop art, Dada and Video art influence the conceptual and aesthetic roots of New Media art.


Similarities of new media art to Dada:
     Many Dadaist strategies reappear in New Media art, including photomontage, collage, the readymade, political action, and performance -- as well as Dada artists' provocative use of irony and absurdity to jar complacent audiences. Some dadaist also served as important precedents for new media artist in blurring the boundaries between art and political actions.


Similarities of new media art to Pop art:
     Pop art presented a challenge to traditions of fine art by including imagery from popular culture such as advertising, news, etc. Many works of New Media art also refer to and are engaged with commercial culture.


Similarities of new media art to Video art:
     Video art is a type of art which relies on moving pictures and comprises video and/or audio data. New Media artists saw the importance of Internet as much as Video artist: as an accessible artistic tool that enabled them to explore the changing relationship between technology and culture.

When was Net Art first included in a major exhibition: Documenta X (Kassel Germany)

From 1994 until 1997,  Net art was first included in the Documenta X exhibition in Kassel, Germany.

Is new media art focussed in one country? Why or why not?

No. In fact, because of its close connection to the Internet,  New Media art is a worldwide movement. The international nature of the New Media art movement reflected the increasingly global nature of the art world as a whole, as evidenced by the proliferation in the 1990s of international biennial exhibitions, including the Johannesburg Biennial and the Gwangju Biennial.

Why were many artists drawn to new media art from other disciplines?

     The first reason is the globalization of cultures and economies caused by the widespread use of the Internet, wireless telephones, and other information and communication technologies. Such advance technologies facilitate international trade, multinational partnerships, and the free exchange of ideas.

     The second reason is the advances in personal computing hardware and software. Until the mid-1990s, personal computers were powerful enough to manipulate images, render 3D models, design Web pages, edit video, and mix audio with ease.

     The last reason is that young artists were as comfortable with new media as they were with more traditional cultural forms. It is because the first generation of artists have grown up with personal computers and video games (in the 1980s) was coming of age.

"UMBRELLA-NET" by Jonah Brucker-Cohen & Katherine Moriwaki (2005)

     Umbrella.net is a project with 10 Bluetooth and PDA-equipped umbrellas which make up a mobile network. The artists lodged in wireledd devices in umbrellas, made it into a daily object which fluctuates weather conditions. This is a network platform for the people to connect others from all over the world through the internet when people are in need under an unpredictable situation. This work is typical of much digital art because it is an artwork that places importance on:

1) FORMAL INSTRUCTIONS

- With the use of mobile ad-hoc computer networking, the net shows illuminations of LED umbrellas. When it rains, participants can open the umbrellas and initiate the network connection. There are three kinds of LEDs which represent 3 kinds of status : Pulsing Red if searching for nodes, Pulsing Blue if connected to other umbrellas, Flashing Blue if transmitting data between umbrellas.

2) THE CONCEPT RATHER THAN THE ART OBJECT

- The art objects in this project are just umbrellas. Yet, according to Umbrella.net, their concept is to focus on the theme of "Network's Coincidence". By this intention, they use this system to discover new types of connections amongst strangers or friends of individuals in public space.

3) THE EVENT AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION

- The illumination allows people around the site to engage in the project. When there is a sudden rain and everyone opens their umbrellas, the relations between those umbrellas will create a network. It's just like forming a community by the individuals by connecting with each others.

4) AN INTEREST IN RANDOM EVENTS / CHANCE

- The network only appears with the "Coincidence of nedd" which occurs with the first drop of rain. Rainfall is unpredictable and unexpected, so this project works under random events.

5) BORROWING OR APPROPRIATION

- The project borrowed the idea from Christo and Jeanne-Claude's Umbrella Project (1984-1991), in which blue and yellow umbrellas are used to sketch landscapes.

 

ETHICS of Digital Games

1) What are some PROS and CONS of playing videogames for individuals and societies?

        One of the PROS is that videogames can increase children's engagement and interest in active learning since they can learn and play at the same time. For example, someone has invented a medical-themed game, which players can know about medical erudition and treatments by shooting down malignant cell inside a patient's body. I'm quite sure that such game provides young people the greater incentive to gain knowledge. Besides, videogames can also improve one's communication skills. Many games require team work and people who want to win must learn how to express themselves and inform others precisely.
      However, some action games often advocate violence and may cause bad influence to children's mental development. Yet I think the most serious problem is indulgence, especially for the teenagers.  They can be addicted to these games easily and mix up their real life with the virtual one. Videogames may influence one's daily life if that person doesn't have well self-control.

2) Is there any evidence that digital games can encourage aggressive values and anti-social action in the real world? Do you agree?

        There are some military games which are used in training soldiers to shoot and kill, so the generation of young people who play such games may similarly being brutalized and conditioned to be aggressive in their everyday social interactions. The tragedy of school massacre is a forceful example. Besides,  research has also proved the negative effects of violent digital games on players. For example, the result of MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging) from a video game player. The result is,  the part of his brain which control the aggressive feelings is activating rapidly. 

        I agree aggressive values can be encouraged through these games, especially through First Person Shooting games such as Counter Strike. Players often feel excitement and extremely powerful in the virtual world, which cause them attempt in the real world. Yet, such cases usually only happened to teenagers who are mentally unhealthy. A mentally-mature player should know how to make correct choices.

3) Should governments have the right to ban a certain game or place age restrictions on it?

     Yes, they should have the right to do that. Since some violent or prono games have bad influences to young people's values, emotions and mental development, government has the responsibility to protect them by setting up certain restrictions.

 

Interviewing classmates:
      I've interviewed one of my classmates, Vivian, about her digital game experience. Her favourate game is the SimCity, which is an city-building and urban planning video game series.

  
     In SimCity, the player is given the task of founding and developing a city, while maintaining the happiness of the citizens and keeping a stable budget. Vivian likes this game because it has great design and creative elements. She also thinks it should be considered as an artwork. Since you can create whatever you like in the game, this game deals with people's imagination and creativity. Players can create a settlement that can grow into a city by zoning land for residential, commercial, or industrial development, as well as building and maintaining public services, transport and utilities.  You can make designs at your own. This game encourages communication as it provides network connections between players. Vivian likes the multiplayer, connected, collaborative SimCity experience where your city and others' were working together.

Can VIDEOGAMES be classified as art?

 

1) In your opinion, what are some key features of the kinds of things we call “art”?

To most students in our group, art has to be aesthetic and has expressions. Innovation is another important feature of art. Some students think art should also be able to express the artist’s feelings and views through different media. One thinks art may be something that cannot be easily understood and not close to our daily life.

 

2) How does Adams define art in your reading? Do you agree with his definition?

  Adams defines art as something with content, aesthetics and theme. He also claims that art should be able to last but should not be formulaic. Most students agree with his point of view. One student thinks there is no need for art to last.

3) Can videogames be classified as art? What does Adams say? What do you think?

  According to Adams, some videogames can be classified as art in the condition that they contain narrative elements and can express author’s ideas in an aesthetic way. To us, videogames can be called as art if they are meaningful, with content and aesthetic value. Innovative elements should be contained too. The combination of storyline, music and images in the videogames should be well-designed.

          I think videogames can be a kind of art because they have creative elements, such as graphics, storytelling and music. They have innovative combination of designs for backgrounds, settings and characters.
          

  

      For instance, Mary Flanagan's "domestic" is a well-designed videogame. It is a three-dimentional computer game and an oddly constructed domestic space has been shown. The space extends endlessly and conceptually. The environment of the game consists of confusing perceptions—large layered hypertexts on walls, and narrow hallways that look familiar but not completely. Throughout the maze-like game, the player experiences the flames of the fire and shoots at the flames  or different texts.  We can find  abstact designs, as well as a mix of photographic images and unstable texts throughtout the conceptual spacem, which are definitely elements of art. It seems that the artist is inviting the players to explore the world she has comstructed and experience with her memory. The artist creates the environment of the game, which the player creates the action in the game—a collaboration of collective memory and experience.

    The work approaches interactive storytelling conventions by loosely depicting a childhood memory of a house fire. She challenges the idea of how we interact with technology and asks viewers and participants to join in her quest to blend human narrative in all parts of our daily life. It contains elements of narrative --- as mentioned by Ernest Adam, their narrative elements can be subjected to the same criticism as other narrative art.