Through its design narrative, "Surrounded" presents the participant-observer with a convincing representation of a phenomenon that is endemic to modern culture. The idea that we are pursued by advertising and marketing in modern society has a certain universal truth to it, and “Surrounded” as an installation will work to embody this concept of purusit and escape as a literal representation.
The installation itself will be designed in such a way so as to compel participation in this process of pursuit and escape. The primary issue for this project will be the issues of engaging multiple interactors, and this will be an important consideration in the implementation of the installation. The artist addresses this issue by suggesting that the audience will have its own agency in entering the work and in participating in the interface.
The timeline and technical implementation are clear and the artist excels at generating technically interesting interactive works. The work is technically and aesthetically well situated in the body of interactive works already completed by the artist, and the element of additional cultural crticism adds an extra dimension to the artist’s work that will make the installation compelling to a general audience both technically and politically.
Ultimately, what "Surrounded" will offer a general audience is a physical experience of the idea that, while it is very difficult to escape from the pursuit of modern advertising, we do ultimately have the choice to find a space that is free from this pervasive influence. This is a universal concept in modern society, and the installation should be very compelling.
The combination of visual and lexical performance elements in the context of “Embodiment” is extremely compelling, as is the idea of breaking down the composed structural and biographical narrative of such an iconic cultural figure and remaking it in a non-hierarchical sequence. The challenge for the artist will be in deciding preceisely how to articulate the relationship between the visual imagery, lexcial element, and poetic performance in order to fully engage the audience in the piece.
The narrative timeline is clear and the diagram is an excellent representation of the artist’s intention. The process for the creation of the artwork and installation is well thought out, and the project is very well situated within both its own social and historical context and the context of the artist’s former works. The project is also well situated within the context of Plath’s status as cultural icon; however, Plath’s status even as a cultural icon may not have a universality that is clear to a non-literary audience. Therefore, it will be very important to embody Plath’s identity in order to fully disembody her voice and her work in a way that is compelling to a general audience. The artist addresses this issue well in his intent to include a transcript of Plath’s original poem in the context of the lexical anagram.
The methodology for the disembodiment and merging of poetic elements is highly compelling and should produce a work that is compelling and rich both in its language and in its cultural commentary.
The project narrative for "Cyber-Mediated Landscapes" is clear and the idea is a very compelling one. Vision and hearing are such a priviledged senses in artistic representations of physical place. The concept of an artistic representation of a physical place that is based on other human senses and even on sensory data which is beyond human conception is refreshing and extremely intriguing.
The concept is well situated within the context of the artist’s other works, particularly in regards to other projects such as the Tomato Quintet that have also made unusual use of sensory imprinting. The artist does not explicitly situate the project within the context of other works, but the project’s obvious relation to other capturing technologies such as photography and phonography places it well within a chronology of technological sensory development and it is clear that this project will add to an unusual body of artistic inquiry into the physical world and the capturing of sensory data.
The technology and timeline are clear, and the idea that the code itself will act as a poetic and artistic filter between the sensory data and the final product adds yet another layer of inventiveness to the project. Photographs and phonographs as sensory imprints are universally appealing; therefore, the idea of a “sensograph” as proposed by the artist should be one that will be universally intriguing and appealing to any general audience.
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