Leonardo On-Line...Words On Works...
Digital Blood....
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Digital Blood is the story of two friends, An (a researcher in benign virus/agent production) and Lin (an intelligent interface designer), both recent mothers who are taking some time off from work to care for and get to know their infants. To amuse themselves, they elaborate on each other's computer work. Lin creates surreal interfaces for An's viruses---making her machine sing and shout. An creates viruses that cause Lin's interfaces to evolve during use and to feel alive. After months of this, as their game gets more and more intense and they make use of what their babies are teaching them, they start losing control of their computers. They finally realize that there is another entity inhabiting their systems. In the game, they have created an independent, evolving construct that one would have to say is living. Is this a threat to be destroyed or a treasure to be cherished and nurtured? Digital Blood: Part 0 was shown at the opening of the Mill Valley Film Festival, October 1997.
[Note 1]: Digital Blood: Part 0 was created on a Power Macintosh 9500 computer using Director, Photoshop, SoundEdit, Strata Studio Pro and Premiere software. Figure 1:Marjorie Franklin, introductory scene from Digital Blood, an interactive narrative on CD-ROM, 1997. (Virtual spaces and machines: Paul Tompkins. Poems: Alex Prisadsky.) Marjorie Franklin,Digital Blood, an interactive narrative on CD-ROM, 1997. As the narrative progresses, the menu bar often contains poems or bits of the story. (Virtual spaces and machines: Paul Tompkins. Poems: Alex Prisadsky.) Marjorie Franklin, P.O. Box 14884, Minneapolis, MN 55414-0884, U.S.A. E-mail: frank046@tc.umn.edu> |