August Reading Excerpt: "Remediation"
Added 2024-09-03 15:01:19 +0000 UTCWith thanks to some transit related wi-fi issues (if there's an AirBnB where the wi-fi works right away, I've never found it), August is finishing in the early days of September. I actually had a great time recording this on a mountain porch, so while it's fast, loose, and a little lo-fi, I hope you enjoy!
Comments
That’s a remarkably powerful rule. ELIZA, the 1960s great-great-grandmum of our modern chatbots, did nothing more nor less than rephrasing interlocuteur‘s statements into questions, and people poured their hearts out to her. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELIZA The combination of curious attentiveness and mirroring language inclines guests to see themselves in what they project, even if as a performer we don’t completely understand all that we interpret. What are your thoughts on the danger of going the other way — letting guests go too far into identifying with a moment or feeling?
Lyra Levin
2024-09-13 23:26:03 +0000 UTCSo much good stuff here, but what jumps out on the first read (aside from the category of "horror and/or sexy media," which so neatly describes something I'm often trying to explain) is "we're way more cautious about identifying than empathizing." I think this is so true, and often when I talk to performers about how "dangerous" or "careful" the work is, part of what I'm referring to is how treacherously easy it is to say or do something that breaks the context through misaligned identity. With every passing day doing responsive, conversational works, I'm a bigger proponent of the "just say the words the participant said" rule for active listening. I think it's a very useful tool for newer performers, and an exceptional fallback line for moments in which you don't feel 100% confident synthesizing what was said. —I also hold it as a tool to interrogate my own assumptions when I am somehow 100% confident: "is this REALLY better than just saying the words they said?"
Yannick Trapman-O'Brien
2024-09-10 14:50:19 +0000 UTCIt's so fascinating hearing frameworks proposed for solving the same puzzles we face today, from the context of thirty years ago! In some ways things are so different, but in others the drives are the same. We've had so much development since then in skills of hypermediacy, particularly seen in those who grew up with interconnected knowledge bases (smart phones, in particular) or tactile languages (such as video game controllers). Removing the artificiality of mechanics continues to be a challenge, to the point where minimizing can be more awkward than assuming sufficient familiarity. Jurassic Park's Trespasser is an infamous example contemporary to Butler and Grusin, but the modern Lorelei and the Laser Eyes suffers from deciding a back button would break immersion. ARGs and other transmedia storytelling skip this in a way I love, by using things that are actually real. Real places, real texting, real people. As you said in your last post, "You can save a lot of time, money and energy but making as many things, settings, and circumstances as possible real." This also plays well with amygdala hijacking, when using activating behavior like running around or having boundaries pushed up against. It lowers critical thought and keeps viewers receptive, which is one reason horror and/or sexy media is easier to produce. I've recently had a bit of a struggle at realizing most of my favorite experiences over the years have been traditional forms of storytelling — books and plays, mostly. I still believe in the power of interactive media, but I'm also aware of its challenges to be more than fun. A theory that came to mind while considering this framework is that third-party narratives allow the flexibility of projection, whereas with first-person media it's easier to break the context through misaligned identity. When done well, we feel like it happens to us, but we're way more cautious about identifying than empathizing. Thanks for breaking down this text into a snack! P.S. cicadas are the new best room tone!
Lyra Levin
2024-09-03 20:51:56 +0000 UTC
