I feel like the idea of virtual people has come up a lot this week. Da, Aubrie and I were talking about Madame Tussauds and the idea of Darla working as a sculptor of wax people (well, that was my assertion). Ah, the oddness of celebrity in the media age. These people in our culture who are so revered that we build wax idols of them and pay to visit, have our photo taken with, and in a strange sense, worship. I remember going to Madame Tussauds as a child and being completely enraptured by the life-like appearance of the figures. It seemed like magic that there were artisans who could create such beings.
The topic of artificial people came up again in an email from Da. She, Justin and Aubrie had been watching videos about “Real Dolls”, the incredibly realistic silicone sex dolls. The video I had seen on these dolls had centered on an interview with a Japanese man who had amassed a collection of nearly a hundred of them. When he walked into his apartment, the lights came on to illuminate the 90 plus dolls arranged on couches and chairs around the living room. The theory of uncanny valley comes to mind. The presentation was a dense array of female virtual creatures, a forest of glabrous limbs, 90 plus shocks of glossy dark hair. They were well cared for and loved. They can’t cheat on you or betray you. He said, “They belong to me one hundred percent”. His story resembles a modern retelling of Pygmalion.
The final, and for me most compelling brush I’ve had with virtual people came in the form of another online video. “Living Doll|My Fake Baby” it’s called. The video opens on the artist who creates the dolls as she carries what looks like a real baby into a supermarket. The downy hair and puckered face is reproduced so faithfully that it’s difficult to differentiate from a live baby except for its silence. The reactions of the people in the clip vary from awe and excitement, to near disgust.
I’m not sure what my strong attraction is to these unreal people. Artifice is an interesting draw. I think what initially drew me to the medium of photography was it’s ability to weave such a convincing lie. Story telling, role playing, lying to ourselves or to the world. I admit my initial reaction was to judge people in the world of real dolls, but I think we all have the same void based on fear- fear of rejection, fear of loneliness, fear of death. Fear- that has been a key word lately. Fear and finding ways of overcoming it and feeling whole. In a sense I think we are these dolls- submerged in a role. Inanimate isolated and lifeless- or at least unconnected to ‘life’ or a greater energy source in a broader sense. I think my art used to be dark for the sake of being dark. Unconscious I guess. But my increasing hope is to be able to make art consciously. I want to create a positive impact on the collective consciousness, even if it’s immeasurably small. I guess I was wondering if these virtual people are contributing in a positive way or a negative way to the collective psyche. I think the initial reaction is that it is a negative one. But what if they’re just a bridge? Can we see them as a reflection of ourselves? Can they be used consciously to heal and move beyond, or do they inhibit people from moving forward? Everything can be part of human evolution I suppose. Maybe we have to look at everything as a bridge. I don’t know. Just thinking.
Grosses bises,
La
P.S.- You can see the videos here if you want:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU33HLj1CWU
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