Michael Demers – The Sky is Falling ( A Day in the Life ) – launch
This work consists of captured Sony PlayStation3 video from Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, edited to reflect the seamless passing of game time and “real” time. One minute of “real” time equals approximately 30 minutes of game time. The resulting 24 two-minute videos record the passing of one game day.
References to playable characters, AI characters, and accompanying sound effects have been edited from the video in an effort to focus on the notion of a virtual space with the possibility of non-virtual habitation, defined in part by the passing of game time during the observers “real” time. The health meter, magic meter, stamina meter, weapon and magic selections and the game compass have been unedited as a digital referent in the hyperreal environment of the game engine.
The footage was captured using the Haupauge HD PVR, and edited on a MacBook Pro using Final Cut Pro. The 24 html pages were built in Adobe Dreamweaver, and use javascript to call a specific page (and the embedded video) based upon the users local time (ex: If someone is viewing the page at 3:40pm local time, video15, containing footage from 3:00 to 3:59pm game time, will be played). An additional piece of javascript tells the browser to refresh itself every two minutes, to ensure that subsequent videos will load appropriately.
BIO
Michael Demers has taught college level Digital Art and New Media courses since 2007. His own work incorporates culture and cultural identity in a synthesis of critical investigation and his own adolescent preoccupation with toys and other weird ephemera. He has exhibited internationally, most recently at the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, Artists Space (New York), and the Arlington Arts Center (Arlington, VA), and is a member of the White Columns Artist Registry (New York), the Rhizome Curated ArtBase (New Museum, New York), BitStream New Media, and is a core commentator for TINT Arts Lab (London, UK). He received his BFA from Florida Atlantic University, an MFA from Ohio University, and a Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste Diplom from the Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Munich, Germany.
