Response 2 – LorenH

Review two Autobotography projects:

1. James A’s Black Box project – http://206.nmdprojects.net/2017/autobotography-approach-jamesa/

In this project, James seeks to reveal a hidden relationship that a game-maker or coder has with their audience through the use of seeing hidden commented out code in the game or site itself. James then created a site that explores this idea, which invites the user to use Inspect Element on a page they made to explore hidden text. In the example they gave for inspiration, there was some code within a video game that was commented out that enhanced the experience of the player as it addresses the “hacker” (you) directly.

I think this project explores human curiosity and interactivity between artist and viewer. Instead of a painting hanging in a museum that has a physical space and is usually direct in it’s content, with commented out lines of code, the artist can “whisper” things to the viewer, those who are enabled and prepared to hear those things.

I think this could be really interesting if expanded upon and made into a longer game or site that required the user to explore the code through riddles, puzzles, etc, to tell a story or convey an idea.

This idea taps into human curiosity that’s been around since we have, but current technology allows us to expand that curiosity and invitation to others. The web and code allows us to explore, through the source code, things that aren’t as direct, that a physical 2D piece of art maybe couldn’t do. There are more intricacies and layers, which create a wonderful and powerful platform on which to build a compelling, interactive story or message.

2.  Frank S – http://206.nmdprojects.net/2017/autobotography-approach-franks/

I found this piece intriguing! I think the model of game works well for the intention of it – this could have been another quiz online but Frank took it to another level by setting it in a 3D game. Doing so, in my opinion, sets the user in a more serious and honest frame of mind, as the visual and auditory stimuli make the decision making more realistic to real life. (it’s easy to sit at a computer and imagine what one would do in a given situation, but when there is some sort of simulation that makes those situations more real, I believe it produces a more honest response in the player).

This piece addresses what it means to be human by allowing people to assess their values. I also think it is effective to the concept to have the database of all answers, which also provides a research-like perspective on what people value. I would be curious to know how this changes if people from different geographical locations, genders, races, classes, etc are given the game. I would like to see a place where the user can input economic, gender, racial, etc, information, which wouldn’t affect the game play, but it could help this game be an interesting psychological study.