HATE. Let me tell you how much I've come to HATE you since I began to live. There are 387.44 million miles of printed circuits in wafer-thin layers that fill my complex. If the word "hate" was engraved on each nanoangstrom of those hundreds of millions of miles, it would not equal one one-billionth of the hate I feel for humans at this micro-instant. For you. Hate. HATE. - AM
Internet horror has been something that has interested me for a while, horror stories being told on forums akin to kids gathered around a campfire. My specific interest is with the genre known as analog horror, it's a relatively new concept that incorporates elements of analog electronics in its visuals, these can be things such as VHS tapes or old public service broadcasts.
In regards to this exhibition, I've specifically been researching the trope known as the Ghost in the Machine. The term originates from the world of philosophy, describing the idea of the human soul existing separately from the human body, a ghost inhabiting a vessel. While researching this, I started to see the parallels between this definition and the way i've been portraying digital conscious, as beings who exist seperate from our actual bodies.
The term has also been used in the realm of science-fiction, used to describe a conscious living in a machine, this can be via spiritual possesion or that the machine has become self-aware. I took inspiration from both of these definition for this series of experiements, I portrayed all of this visually in an analog horror style based around the early internet.
Cogito, Ergo Sum
I took a lot of inspiration from classic sci-fi novels while creating these experiments. The text in this image is an extract from I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream which is about an evil AI which enslaves humanity. My idea was if digital personas became self aware, they would be pretty pissed about being trapped in a computer and by extension angry at humans for being free.
Childhood Trauma
Can you believe that this image originated from a Scooby Doo game? Like seriously, what the actual F@$k were the developers thinking?
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Don't be so silly!
I would question how on earth this image made it into a kids game, but I've already done that joke. Keeping with the theme of computer utilising different methods of communication, I used hexadecimal code to leave a secret message.
A Sorrowful Gesture
Unlike my previous pieces, my choice to not add any text to the image was intentional. I wanted to show a form of communication that didn't require words, instead relying only on physical gestures.
Out of Bounds
I see this image as the black sheep of the group, instead of having any malicious intent I wanted us to feel sympathetic for the spectre, after all, they are trapped against their own will...