Parallel Mesmerization of Eleven Blondes and Eleven Brunettes by Two Computers


'Erwin Redl Erwin Redl

A surreal simulation by double-simulators [naked dolls as actors playing soccer] stimulated by economic stimulators and indicators [Wall Street ‘s money games as stimulation and indication of the economy] emerges – a simulacrum of the 4th power.

Interactivity has become very narrow-minded recently – point and click and a game approach to most of the screen-based multimedia works has become standard. An overflow of works with sensors led me to re-think the concept of interactivity. The project Parallel Mesmerization of Eleven Blondes and Eleven Brunettes by Two Computers is an attempt to go further into the realm of the virtual organism of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The Dow Jones represents a virtual species made up of pure quantity, easy to identify only by numbers – the stock quotes of the 30 largest American companies. [Almost] everyone can take part and influence the behavior of this being, but only to a small degree – the investment. The life signs are distributed all over the world and can be easily accessed simply by downloading the quotes from the Internet without any delays.

Two teams of dolls are placed on the soccer field model [blonde team/brunette team]. The computer controls the two teams and each team member is linked to the actions of a Dow Jones’ stock. Every 10 minutes the computer logs-in to a stock quote provider on the Internet and loads down quotes. According to changes in the stock’s values, different commands are directed to the dolls: the breasts will flash, speech samples are triggered, melodies are played, etc. The loudspeaker glued to the dolls’ feet faces the surface of the soccer field model > a little more causes the figures to move in random patterns across the field > a strange ballet of blondes and brunettes with flashing breasts performs a hybrid theater piece which is conducted by the virtual organism of the Dow Jones.

The acoustic material is taken from an educational tape from the seventies with the title Audray’s First Million for the brunettes and from a pornographic audio tape for the blondes.

The goals of the field are replaced by the two little LCD-displays. A soothing slow -motion animation is shown. In between this mesmerization, scores for the stocks are shown in the foreground – with educational slides, that came with the language tape mentioned above, as background.

My work is not a simulation of the stock market. It just [ab]uses the life signs of the Dow Jones as a driver for audio-visual events or, more generally, mass behavior as an inspiration for the arts.