Mathias  Fuchs,, Sylvia  Eckermann

fluID - arena of identities

A multi-user game about identity and its (de)construction

fluID - arena of identities

fluID - arena of identities

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German Version

netzspannung.org

Media Files

Abstract

The work, presented in the form of an installation, is a level mod of the multi-user game Unreal Tournament. It focuses on the flexibility of identities in computer games and the relationship between the player and the character. The total convergence of both, that is one of the pre-conditions for immersion into the game world, becomes a determining factor of the action.
At the start of the game, the users do not have any distinguishing features at all (e.g. face, gender or clothing) and are faced with the task of creating an identity during the course of the game. At locations such as "The River of Permanent Change", "Narciss’s Lake" or in "The Laboratory of Style", players can assume individual features, reflect or replicate themselves. But they can also lose their identity, for example if they cannot resist the temptation of narcissistic self-reflection. Tools such as the "fluID SkinGun" also allow the players to steal others’ identities. Thus, the chosen ego is asserted, negotiated and disputed in the confrontation of others and one’s own self-image. "fluiID - arena of identities" was conceived as a commissioned work for Selfware, a series of events during graz03.
(Katrin Mundt)

Artists / Authors

Origination

Austria, 2003

URL

» http://www.t0.or.at/%7Efuchs-eckermann

Submission

, Apr 8, 2004

Category

Keywords