TOTAL NEXUS

If I were to trace the origins of my journey into digital culture, it would lead straight back to the early 1990s. While preparing for a talk on Cyberspace for an Australian arts institution [around 1992 or 1993] I found myself delving into the realm of the Internet. My fascination was ignited earlier during my Applied Social Science degree when I first encountered the term Cyberspace. A pivotal moment for me happened in 1992 when I was introduced to the work of VNS Matrix. Their fusion of cyberfeminism, text, imagery, and virtual engagement completely captivated me. At that time I was creating mixed-media installations that combined painting, computer text, and hardware. Inspired by VNS Matrix, I began exploring the Internet in 1994 using Telnet and Unix. I created avatars like Ms Post Modemism to engage in identity play and interactive, game-like fiction with other virtual participants. I'm deeply interested in how technology, especially mediums like AI, VR, AR, and XR can embody storytelling. These platforms require users to engage conceptually, emotionally, and/or physically, creating a unique intimacy. The immersive quality of Virtual Reality, for instance, co-opts the user's senses, fostering a willing suspension of disbelief that's both thrilling and profound. Projects like my VR Microstory Series “V[R]ignettes” [and also “V[R]erses”] involve interactive navigation through haptic controls, emphasising spatial and tactile experiences over traditional textual narratives. Similarly, "Perpetual Nomads" [a VR adventure in the Inanimate Alice series] combines literary storytelling with virtual reality, pushing the boundaries of how stories can be told and experienced. My practice blurs the boundaries between literature, art, and technology. I've always seen my work as a kind of grand experiment traversing electronic literature, code poetry, transmedia narratives, game art, spatial computing, AI and other as-yet-named things. In 1994 I started developing Mezangelle, a language that intertwines poetic expression with programming structures. Mezangelle invites readers to construct their own meanings, playing within the fractured spaces of language and code. It's less about definitive interpretations and more about embracing multiple layers of understanding. Gaming has been another significant influence on my work. From the intense sessions of Doom and Quake in the mid-90s to immersing myself in MMORPGs like EverQuest and World of Warcraft - where I even co-ran a guild - games have shaped my understanding of virtual spaces. This passion for gaming influenced digital fiction projects like “All the Delicate Duplicates” where the sense of vast, alien landscapes mirrors the openness of rural environments, reminiscent of my childhood explorations of abandoned [and often forbidden] places [all thanks to my Dad]. In projects like “#PRISOM” and “All the Delicate Duplicates” I've explored the intersection of video games, Augmented Reality, and literature. I believe that games can be both art and literature, and that merging game mechanics with narrative can create emergent forms that challenge traditional definitions. These works don't prioritise plot over mechanics or vice versa; instead, they offer immersive experiences where story and interaction are inseparable. Artificial Intelligence has long been integral to my creative exploration. Around three decades ago I created "The MALFI Trials", an interactive fiction exploring AI's implications for humanity. MALFI [short for "Multi-Artificial Life Form Interface] was a fictional AI striving for autonomy. Initially a graphically eccentric short story, it evolved in 1996 into an interactive piece showcased at Prague’s Goethe Institute during an online Virtual Universe Forum/Symposium, and later exhibited at Israel's Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art. In 2022, the OpenAI team behind DALL-E invited me to their AI Artist Access Program. I eagerly dove into DALL-E2's prompt-driven world, resulting in "[Por]TrAIts: AI Characters + Their Microstories": a fusion of AI-generated art and Mezangelle. The project explores AI-generated creativity as the foundation of a human-AI alliance. Each image was generated using DALL-E2, then enhanced through digital editing techniques and paired with microstories. The creations invite interpretation: are they AI entities in human form, cosplaying humanoids exhibiting AI traits, or something else entirely? Throughout my career, I've been driven by a desire to experiment, to play, and to push against the confines of established modes of expression. Whether through code, games, or [(hopefully) brain-bending] digital fictions, my work aims to challenge perceptions, invite exploration, and forge new paths in the intersections of art, literature, and technology.