Pale light
Author:
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Shakespeare's Timon of Athens:
"The moon's an arrant thief, / And her pale fire she snatches from the sun"
(Act IV, scene 3)
Performance
Video
About the project
The title refers to the light of a device screen that brightens our faces with visuals of what once belonged to us, but no longer does.
This project is premised on the observation that a person's digital profile can become detached from their physical self. The information that forms an individual's digital persona converges into an independent virtual entity, leading a separate life from the original human being. This digital replica is endowed with a body - a virtual repository of delegated feelings and experiences - through the archiving of memories and emotional experiences.
The demarcation of a body, be it virtual or physical, is marked by clear boundaries that differentiate what is part of the body and what is external. For a physical body, these demarcations are intuitively clear, made evident by physical sensations that occur when the body encounters external objects. For the digital body, this delineation is more complex and requires an analysis of its content, down to every 1 and 0. The artist argues that the mapping of a digital replica is achieved through memories and emotions, which are stored within the replica, delineating its boundaries.
Social media platforms have provided us with the means to archive our past experiences. By uploading our memories and emotional experiences online, we delegate them to our digital replicas. The relationship between the virtual replica and the actual person is one of interpassivity, with experiences occurring through an external agent. Interpassivity is often explained through the delegation of pleasure, such as allowing someone else to enjoy an experience on our behalf, or using a device to record an experience for later consumption. However, this work focuses on all the spectrum of emotional experience as a means to reflect on the formation and growth of the virtual tissue of a digital body.
In an attempt to mimic the movements of their digital copy, the performer encounters all the separated memories and emotions. This experience gives birth to a surplus of feelings as the memories and emotions are simultaneously re-lived and realized. Despite being recalled, these complete emotions still hold the power of the moment, filling the experience with the beauty of reflection.