EPHEM

ERA

EPHEMERARMIT Centre for Animation & Interactive Media

EPHEMERA

Ephemera re-imagines the landscape of the human brain, immersing the participant in the fleeting membranes of our imagination and notions of play. Facilitated by first person fly-through mode, the project encourages participants to fluidly explore this landscape through a series of neuro-passages and curio-chambers that aim to evoke rather than illustrate. Culminating notions of neurology and technology, Ephemera celebrates imagination and exploration within the cartesian space of the digital sphere.

EPHEM

ERA

EPHEMERARMIT Centre for Animation & Interactive Media

An interactive journey through the mind.

Field 36 Gallery * Melbourne * 2011

EPHEMERA

“When I think in language, there aren’t ‘meanings’ going through my mind in addition to the verbal expressions: the language is itself the vehicle of thought.”

Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations

The brain as a seat of intelligence, sentience and individuality is a relatively recent phenomenon. The ancient Egyptians considered the brain to be ultimately useless, a kind of “stuffing” for the head, to be removed through the nose with hooks prior to mummification. The Greek philosopher Aristotle saw the brain as a cooling system for the blood. In the modern era, the question of the brain is largely a question of cognitive science; it has been dually treated as either a machine for being (methodological individualism) or a computational object (computationalism, A.I.).

We come to these ideas in a one-sided manner – that events in the world are given meaning by the perceiving agent. But are we reflecting closely enough on our experience of thinking? What is happening in our embodied interaction with these “external” objects? Is that thinking? Famously, Wilson-Crick only encountered the structure of DNA through the physical manipulation of cardboard models. We must at least consider the possibility that the cognitive agent may also be an active creator of meaning.

Recent developments in cognitive science have placed doubts on the locus of the very human activity of thinking (and therefore, being). Enactive cognition holds that external agents (tools, language, models, simulations) might be so closely entwined with the process of thinking that they might as well be understood as fundamental and essential to our idea of what thought is. This is radical in its re-embodiment of the idea of thought.

INTRODUCTIONDr. Chris Barker, Lecturer, RMIT University

Thought becomes not just an abstraction occurring “in the brain;” thought becomes a process indistinguishable from those objects symbolically assimilated to “think with” (such as diagrams, sketches, models, simulations and physical metaphors). This has significant impact on the idea of human-computer interaction, as simulations and games then become not merely external objects, but prosthetic objects, essential and indistinguishable from thinking.

The present exhibition then, invites us to think about the radical re-figuring possible with new tools of simulation, interaction and play. Ephemera allows us to re-imagine the very landscape of the brain, and invites us to make meaning through a playful remapping of all those mushy neurons, dendrites and nerve endings. But more, Ephemera is a new and playful presentation of knowledge, a machine for thinking, a new cognitive formulation, simulation or construction.

In the current exhibition, we are invited to play, and to interact. Unlike a painting, a movie or a sculpture, Ephemera is not a contemplative object; it is plastic, malleable, temporal and procedural. As an object, it does not “stand for” already acquired and codified symbolic or propositional knowledge; nor does it present a frame within which to understand some concept or other. Ephemera is playful - valuable precisely because it is not a problem requiring a solution, or visa versa. It seeks to break this pattern of certainty, and draws us into a more embodied relationship with the objective world. Our play becomes an active construction of meaningful action where no such sense making is directly demanded from the environment or from our internal needs. As such, play creates a site for innovation, Ephemeral, but nonetheless tangible.

"By changing space, by leaving the space of one's usual sensibilities, one enters into communication with a space that is psychically innovating. … For we do not change

place, we change our nature.”

-Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space

French philosopher Gaston Bachelard studied the ways in which the human experience of architecture and space affects and shapes its development. He was particularly occupied with the notion of ‘Desire Paths’, a term in landscape architecture used to describe a path that isn’t designed, but rather is worn casually away by people finding the shortest distance between two points. “Just like nature and evolution itself, life will always find the most expedient route to what it wants.” It demonstrates how human use of an architectural space or pre-determined flow through space will sometimes over-ride the intentions of its creator. Herein lies the creative intent at the heart of Ephemera: to create a space in which users determine the experience and path; where an immersive environment takes on qualities of meaningful play because of the participant.

It is not always an easy task to develop an independent and original visual language while working within the theoretical space of the computer, albeit to maintain a cohesive vision while collaborating with a large and diverse group of skilled artists. Ephemera is in many ways, a solution to the question of how to approach spatiality and conceptualise space in a way that is sincere and speaks to the original intent.

DIRECTOR’S NOTESophia Hanover, Director, Ephemera

Game Designer Chris Crawford identifies interactivity as the outward expression of play, the mechanism by which play is executed. The current exhibition seeks to foster an interactive, exploratory space set within the loops of grey matter that make the human brain.

This re-imagining provides an immersive play space via surreal and abstract simulations of the brain, and mimics functional and dysfunctional states. Meaningful play defines what occurs when the relationship between actions and outcomes in a game are both discernible and integrated into the larger context of the game.

Interactive Media are forms of systems, and the exhibition itself is a set of parts and variables which interact and invite the user to derive meaning from the experience. Klass Kuitenbrouwer pertinently noted that “being interactive itself doesn’t make a project more interesting,” but that the trick is to “offer an interesting form of freedom.” This notion of mindful user limitation is something that pre-occupied the artists engaged in the project, and great consideration was given to the form of structure and boundary within the piece.

Collaboration on this project has provided the opportunity for a large group of digital artists to present a holistic framework for meaningful play, and contribute in ways that harness the talents of individual members. Whether it is for one minute or fifteen, we encourage users to actively look, explore and dictate their own frameworks for play within the piece.

Original Moodboard for the left temporal lobe.

The left temporal lobe in particular plays a major role in speech, verbal memory, and other language functions. Represented by a large chamber, the left temporal lobe’s internal walls and surfaces give the impression of a maze mapped with text, in particular clippings from lists, dictionaries, manuals, instructions, newspapers, essays, and other non-fiction, objective, or scientific sources. The maze will be formed by a series of straight-angled internal walls. When the avatar encounters the trigger item in this region it will become disorientated and the environment will turn temporarily upside down.

LEFT TEMPORAL LOBE

Original Moodboard for right temporal lobe.

The right temporal lobe in particular plays an important role in non-verbal memory and thought processes.

The surfaces of the right temporal lobe will be mapped with graffiti-like images, drawings, and other strange subjective, personal, non-rational, surreal or inexplicable images. The passages in this maze-like chamber will have the appearance of graffiti filled laneways; the walls will be textured with peeling white paint and occasional glimpses of brickwork, and covered in graffiti images and childish hand-painted drawings.

The sounds in this area will feature snatches of forgotten songs, snippets of music and television themes. There will be the distant sound of children laughing, and vaguely nostalgic music. There will be no obstacles in this region other than the teleports and trigger items.

When encountering this zone’s dysfunctional state, the region will descend into darkness, except for a few dim lights which will illuminate specific parts of the drawings on the wall.

RIGHT TEMPORAL LOBE

Right Temporal Lobe. Right Temporal Lobe.

Right Temporal Lobe, dysfunctional state. Right Temporal Lobe, dysfunctional state.

Original Moodboard, inspiration and reference for left frontal lobe.

The left frontal lobe is the region of the brain responsible for control, language related movement, analytical and numerical skills, posture and reasoning. The left frontal lobe will be represented by an ordered, logical space. It will be a space predominantly represented in black and white, mirroring pure logic. The space will be textured in black and white geometric patterns that blend into one another. The sound will be a low hum almost like air conditioning. This sound may crescendo and get louder in the dysfunctional state. The lighting will be bright and evenly lit with no identifiable light source.

LEFT FRONTAL LOBE

Original Moodboard and concept art for the right frontal lobe.

The right frontal lobe is the part of the brain that controls imagination, our understanding of 3D forms, artistic, spacial and musical patterns, creativity, spatial rotations, intuition, and inhibition.

The tunnel will be textured with warm-bright lights. The colours will light up, change colour and pulsate; the space will also contain a range of 3D sphere type shapes that float along near the sides of the walls.

The sound will be very melodic, tinkling music. A crashing sound will be heard to match the explosion of colour when the dysfunctional state is triggered. In this region’s dysfunctional state, the spheres faces will break apart and burst into shards of colour.

RIGHT FRONTAL LOBE

Original Moodboard, concept art for the occipital lobe.

The Occipital Lobe is responsible for processing all visual information received by the eyes. It perceives visual information such as colour, shape and faces. It is also the part of the brain where dreams come from. This region of the brain will be represented by a large, spherical chamber, resembling the inside of a theatre or TV station. Objects related to visual stimulus will be arranged around the inside of the space.he screens will line the walls of the chamber or even float in midair.

The overall soundscape will be a montage of television sounds (news reports, daytime talk shows, cartoons, advertisements, music).

When the Dysfunction Trigger is activated, all the images on the screen will turn to static. Dream-like, nonsensical silhouettes with no particular relation will grow out from the screens and surrounding area and become obstacles that the Player has to maneuver around.

Sounds of static, a low droning sound, or eerie circus music could be used to give the place a more sinister, nightmarish atmosphere.

OCCIPITAL LOBE

Original concept art for the parietal lobe.

The Parietal Lobe maintains the visual and physical image that an individual has of themselves. Parietal lobes receive sensory impressions from the body and are connected with the processing of nerve impulses related to the senses, such as touch, taste, pressure, pain and temperature as well as language functions. The parietal lobe guides the motion of the body in space as well as coordinating its movement in gross motor skills such as walking or climbing over objects. Damage to the left lobe may disrupt a person’s ability to understand spoken or written language.

The space which represents the parietal lobe consists of three regions. These are ice, forest and desert. They represent the idea of navigation through environments and changes in temperature (functions of the parietal lobe).

PARIETAL LOBE

Original Moodboard for the olfactory bulbs.

In the human brain, the olfactory bulbs are responsible for the perception of odours, i.e. our sense of smell.

The two olfactory bulbs will be represented by small, long thin chambers that may be entered from either of the temporal lobes. These chambers will be made to resemble small scientific laboratories or perfumeries. Each will be a long narrow space, with benches along either side, on which a variety of scientific and measuring equipment is on display, such as test tubes, filters, distilling equipment, drip bottles, bunsen burners, small medicinal bottles.

The style of these small laboratories will be quite old fashioned, with most objects made from wood and glass. The lighting scheme will reflect this old-fashioned feeling, with warm soft yellow lighting and deep shadows. Imagine a mad-scientist’s basement laboratory a hundred years ago. The ceiling will be low and sloped, disappearing into the shadows.

OLFACTORY BULBS

Original Moodboard, concept art for the cerebellum.

The Cerebellum is the part of the brain responsible for the co-ordination of movement, balance, and muscle control.

This region will be represented by a dark brown space wallpapered with faded wallpaper. Light bulbs will dangle slightly from the top of the space. There will also be old picture frames that hang limply in the middle of space. The user will need to navigate through these frames. Light will come from the light bulbs dangling from the top of the tunnel. They will have a yellowish, sepia tint to give the space a warm and antiquated feel.

In the dysfunctional state, the light bulbs sway unpredictably back and forth as the frames drop quickly to the ground. The tunnel becomes an obstacle course. The sound in this region will consist of eerie sounds, and the sound of wind.

CEREBELLUM

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS

Ole AlfheimSarah Phillips

DIRECTOR

Sophia Hanover

PRODUCERS

Alexandra Johanna BazurtoLahta Stephens

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

Concept Lead: Meredith UborkaTerry FormosaLindy LouLaura Cashman PicklesKaris Sim

ENGINEERING

Engine Lead: Simon BraunsteinXingling (Isis) ChenPascal Hsiao Chih-HsiangJin Yin ChongMax SharamXiao Xue (Snow) Zheng

PRODUCTION

Production Lead: Pablo Muñoz GomezSebastian FowlerDanielle KerrJinhong (Kelly) LiAlesh MacakAriel MagnesFatihanum Johar SalimHan Jing ZengXin Zhao