JANE VEEDER

      11

      (excerpts)

      I go on Ride Films every chance I get.

      Now with the Luxor [ virtural hotel ]-- I mean, when you get an architect talking about the hotel he's designed as a simulacrum you know, we've made a lot of progress.

      As soon as you walk in the Luxor, you're on a ride.

    You are a character in this wonderfully bogus narrative.
      You don't mind that it's bogus, because it's fun. Here, we are flying through these Egyptian ruins which were discovered underneath Las Vegas when the hotel was being built.

    And there were working levitation vehicles down there.
      Some ancient civilization that had this crystal obelisk that was the key to time. And notice that we are characters in this. We were tourists being brought down to view the ruins.

    And then what's his name, doctor somebody or other, the evil guy, was screwing everything up.
      So our hero here who was an evil real estate developer turned good guy, is now saving us. Because the elevators have been scuttled. So we have to take the levitation vehicle out.

      Notice all the ambiguous architectural elements. Columns with capitals at both ends. Now, this is the view you would have sitting in the non-motion theatre. And I conned the little guides into letting me into that one. Because typically, you're sitting on a motion platform, which is a hydraulically controlled platform that holds the seats and jiggles you. Now this is where the beast and the brain come together in a very interesting intersection.

      And it's kind of reciprocal, because you need to have visual cues to understand what's about to happen physically. And there's a lot of good set up, "telegraphing" filmmakers call it, what's about to happen next. But at the same time, the lurching of the motion base prepares you for the visuals.

And so the ride you're taking is really in your own body with your own hormones, which you know, is fun for the frontal lobe. So you are set up for each plunge. It's like physical lurch, graphical plunge.

      And you know it's just a movie, but you can't let go of the little arm things beside you, because you're convinced -- the beast is convinced that if you do, you will plunge through space forever. If you fall out of your seat.

      And of course there's a happy ending.

      And now she looks back and sees us. See? So we are very much a character in this. This isn't interactive -- communally interactive, it's called. But there are a few Ride Films like the Loch Ness adventure where there is a captain, there is a navigator, et cetera. And then people have to communicate in order to save Nessie's eggs.

      So Ride Films are a really interesting place of seeing these two come together.

          I think a lot of digital art at this point has pretty much given up this great western tradition of catering to the beast, because it's too expensive, currently.

top

< BACK| NEXT>