I will never leave you
Installation
2 smartphones head set, live stream video into Second Life,
2017
Being addicted to the online virtual world of @Second Life
forces individuals to make the difficult final click. A passive
and almost banal motion in our reality, but one that carries
with it the weight of “killing” an avatar in the alternate. This
digital form has become an extension of the individual, laying
pixels over their dreams and ambition. Yet, the avatar is also
just an innocent. A creature completely dependant on the
processor. While not logged in, the possessor can feel guilty
for abandoning their virtual self. They feel as if they are its
only hope. Without them, it is there alone, incapable of
movement.
But what if we change the relationship from complete
dependancy to equality? What if the avatar has the power to
look into our lives, just as we have been looking at its? What
will become of ourselves? I will never leave you is a live
stream video installation in which the avatar gets the
possibility to experience our reality. Doing so can reveal the
fluidity of the relationship between the two. It poses
questions about the hierarchy between creatures, “real” or
not. While also referring to the undeniable fact that the virtual
is always observing us anyway.
Project created at Design Academy Eindhoven
by @jagoda_fryca