This is the follow-up to my "three things" assignment for Thesis Prep. It's been a little difficult because the notion of the follow up is synthesis, and I chose my three items precisely because they are so individually different from each other. I think they do have a collective meaning, but it's difficult to define as a feature of EACH object... it's more a meaning that grows out of the choice of the three together... I... well...
...huh...
...aha! Yahtzee!
Area of Interest
Synthesis of disconnected but individually rich narrative elements
The shark's tooth juxtaposes the time of greatest responsibility (teaching) with the time of least responsibility (childhood).
The Paul Simon piece wrangles a disconnected song into one coherent moment.
Asheby's Book of Superlative Claims represents the notion even more explicitly. It's a collection of eclectic story sketches that (eventually, in an unwritten page) connect into a larger narrative, difficult to explain outside its discordant parts.
Questions Suggested
How does this synthesis occur?
How can this be an interactive process?
As an interactive process, how can this produce unexpected results as opposed to pre-scripted experiences?
Where are the borders of "interesting synthesis"? What narratives are too close to converge surprisingly? What narratives are too distant to converge at all?
How can I bring User/Player Narratives into contact and conversation with Creator/Authorial narratives?
Method / Process of Exploration
Oddly enough, this is back in line with the thesis work I've been doing. For an exploration of content, a rapid prototyping of different scenarios in the Cachebook form would be interesting.
Subjects that address the Question
If I understand this correctly, we're looking for further examples.
First and foremost is Lost. In discovering and articulating this area of interest, I've also identified the reason I'm so enamored with Flashback Island... it's an unparalleled masterstroke of juxtaposition. (N.B. - You know where I'll be at 9 pm tonight)
Second is Tony and Tina's Wedding or Tamara, two theatrical immersive works which I've yet to see, but which I desperately want to experience. They're both, as I understand it, environmental dramas, where you wander the space as part of the action. Seeing how this voyeuristic, specialized view on a larger event makes me feel / think / understand would really help me in making The Cache.
Third (a little broader, now) is the art form of collage. If I don't understand the principles behind good/effective visual collages, I don't think I'll be able to make the pieces for a good narrative collage.
Genre / Audience
I'm going with a gamer / personality type here: Explorers.
Term for the audience
This is tough... player, viewer and reader are all applicable.
I'll go with "audience" (inclusive) and "audience member" (singular) for now. It doesn't over-emphasize the Game, yet it feels more empowered and proactive than "viewer" or "reader", which each describe singular, well-defined activities.
I find it odd that The Cache odds up so nicely with my area of interest. Truth be told, there have been moments in the last eight months when I've felt strangely divorced from the project, like it was something I Needed to do instead of something I Wanted to do. It's encouraging to find a personal connection between my goals and my work. Hopefully that connection can help clarify and define the focus of the project.