Is the devil curved ?
In November 1994, during the Artifices 3 exhibition which presented, in Saint-Denis, twelve interactive artistic installations, Maurice Benayoun proposed the first virtual reality installation : Is God flat ? designed and produced by Z.A Production
That was the beginning of an extended step. Is the Devil curved ? , presented at the Canal + booth, during Imagina 1995 in Monte Carlo.
This new production from the author of the famous 3-D series THE QUARXS is the starting point of a new questioning using virtual reality as an expression mode.
Moreover, Maurice Benayoun asks the right questions :
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IS THE DEVIL CURVED ? In Is the Devil curved ? , the visitor goes once again through the quest of the truth. In Is God flat ? the spectator locked up between the brick walls of a room, digs corridors into walls where plane and moving representations of God appear. | |
| | In Is the Devil curved ?, as paradoxical as it seems to be, we dig labyrinthic corridors through the sky. The clouds are cut in real time as the visitor moves. This air architecture has a purpose. We discover supple organic shapes slowly moving in portions of space. As we come closer, those plump shapes change their own behaviour, and sensitive to our " contact ". The unveiled " diabolo" offered flesh shivers as soon as we draw near to it. Thus, we understand we are in front of an evil seduction game. We gradually discover those almost sensual shapes, (angels or devils?), rich in successive experiences, it tends to embody an ideal curved of seduction. The diabolo's shape adapts itself step by step, to the spectator's desire, as a matter of fact. |
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| | Don't we have here a TV channel fantasy : creating shapes wich are able to learn by themselves how to seduce the audience ? | |
| | This is a diverted use of what we call " artificial life ", which talks about life (the purpose of art) beyond a basic demonstration, by placing shapes in space. The visitor of this virtual world truly exists within this world, changing at his contact. The meaning itself is ins this relation. The interactive realism lies in the transposition of laws, which rules the world in laws, which rules the meaning. | |
Is the Devil curved ?
Question asked in Virtual Reality by Maurice Benayoun
Production of the Devil : Z.A Production / CANAL +
Development : Z.A
The Devil : Patrick Bouchaud / David Nahon
Sound : Jérôme Félix
The machine : Silicon Graphics ONYX Reality Engine and (sound ) : SGI Indy