[NetBehaviour] Somatic Ghosting

[Alan Sondheim]

Somatic Ghosting

http://www.alansondheim.org/azuresitting.jpg
http://www.alansondheim.org/azurelaser.png

In the first image - Azure Carter sitting in the Virtual
Environments Laboratory at West Virginia University in Morgantown,
mid 1990s. The streak on the upper left is a segment of the laser
scan across the scene. We were using a very strong laser, capable
of scanning the exterior of a large building in a single pass. The
scene is that of an inert and obdurate reality; the camera image is
a projection of that reality; each element of the camera image is
independent of every other. The perspective of the scene is fixed.
The scene portends to the memory of the real, to the real itself.

In the second image - a projection of the three-dimensional model
of the scene. This is independent of the original; a collection of
pixels, it can be viewed from any direction. Each element of the
scene is independent of every other. The scene is malleable and
portends to an infinity of models, all potentially (but not
necessarily) related.

In the first image - a simulacrum of 'natural sight' - colors and
shadows - a photograph or movie still - talisman of memory, stage
set for a performance -

In the second image - digital presence or absence - on and off - no
compromise - definite and countable number of equally- illuminated
intersections - what is illuminated is what has been caught in the
beam - the beam creates a collocation of distributed equivalences -
stage set for an object -

The first and second image are married - different viewpoints to be
sure, but connected - the first is always prior to the second - the
first is witness to the second -