The work that lead to and has been created for my M.F.A. thesis exhibition can be seen as an investigation of the themes of interaction, influence, communication, and the objecthood and processes of the digital medium. Of primary concern in my recent work has been the creation of objects which exhibit believable, yet somewhat base, behaviors through the use of procedural, rule-based computer animation. The end result of this process can be seen as documentation (as video sequences) of the ability of the computer to follow the rules I give it, and the decisions it makes based on these rules, as well as the incorporation of these video sequences into physical space through the use of constructed physical objects or projection into an environment.
The main conceptual thrust of this work has been the depiction of the behaviors inherent in animate objects, and the influence of these behaviors on those in relation to it. The behaviors depicted could be said to be somewhat basic, such as avoidance, manipulation, or ignorance. However, I believe that in using less specific instances of behavior, it is possible to open up, or imply, to the viewer the possibility of larger, more ingrained aspects of behavior and the ways in which they operate in our immediate environment and upon ourselves. In examining base behavior as a subliminal and involuntary aspect of our being, while allowing for further implication by the viewer as to these deeper phenomena, I am attempting to draw a thread between what is basic, and that which could be considered as a more developed or conditioned trait of behavior.
A second aspect of this work deals with the notions of objecthood and autonomy. With the importance I have placed on the existence of behavior in these objects, it follows that the actual actions that occur do so only to fulfill the needs of the object based on its intrinsic traits and nature. The video portion of this work can be seen as documentation of the decisions made by these virtual objects in effort to comply with the rules of its environment.
A considerable amount of effort has also been put forth in assessing my rationale in using the computer (and more specifically, computer animation) as a primary vehicle in addressing these themes. The work of this show can also be seen in this light, and the aspects and results of this on-going assessment are apparent in the work, and will be discussed in this thesis.