March 12, 2008
When last we saw artist and professor Joseph DeLappe, he was protesting the Iraq war - and infuriating other players - by typing the names of dead U.S. miltary personnel into the multiplayer chat window of America's Army.While DeLappe continues to visit the Army recruiting game as part of his Dead in Iraq war protest, he has turned to a new virtual project, recreating Gandhi's 1930 Salt March within Second Life. As reported by GQ:
DeLappe will begin reenacting Gandhi's 1930 240-mile Salt March on a treadmill inside New York's Eyebeam gallery—all of which will be reproduced in real time on Second Life.
Yes, the self-parody is (kind of) deliberate. "I'm a spoiled American computer artist paying tribute to Gandhi's life and philosophy by taking on certain aspects of his march, like the walking," he says. "But at the same time, you know, I'm not going anywhere."
DeLappe writes on his blog that he will use a specially converted Nordic Trak treadmill to control his SL avatar:
Over 26 days I will walk throughout the confines of this internet based community to reenact Gandhi’s famous 1930’s march to protest the British salt tax in India... my steps on the treadmill will control the forward movement of my avatar...
Comments
@GoodRobotUs
Clearly he is protesting society
I always prefer the term 'artiste', an artist can create some beautiful, timeless works that live forever, an artiste is a more 'physical' entity, creating transient things that are designed for now, not for the future, and are more centred on the creator, who is often interactively involved with it.
I'll not pass judgement on either kind, I just think there are differences between them, one wants to leave something for the future, the other wants to say something to the now.
Touche, and excellent point.
It's 'teh win'
A "fleeting, online memorial?" I'm sorry to inform this "artist," but a memorial that's "fleeting" isn't a memorial at all. No, all he's doing is self-aggrandizing in order to feel relavent while elevating internet trolling to an offensive level by abusing the memories of dead soldiers.
What of those soldiers who believed in what they were fighting for and who were ready and willing to die? Yes, I know, sacrifice like that is clearly a concept that's foreign to DeLappe. Also foreign to DeLappe is the consideration and open-mindedness to think that maybe, just maybe, some of those soldiers would take offense to their memory being used against their will so some pretentious, uncaring moron could get some free publicity and feel good about himself.
This "man's" online "protest" is a mockery of Gandhi's actual Salt March Protest. All DeLappe wants is attention as he plods along on his treadmill, bottle of Evian in hand. If he feels so passionately about whatever it is he's protesting - and what is he doing this to protest? - why wouldn't he act in the real world? Why hide within Second Life while remaining safe and comfortable on his treadmill? I'm going to hazard a guess that it's because DeLappe is too weak a person to actually put himself at risk for what he believes in.
He wants attention but he's too weak to face any real discomfort so he does something like this, walking nearly 10 miles a day on a treadmill and then enjoying a hearty meal and a nice night's sleep on a comfortable bed. Truly, he's paying tribute to the hardships faced by Gandhi.
This guy is such a complete and profound attention whore that I wouldn't be surprised if Elliot Spitzer sponsors his "works."
That's what some people say about the civil war re-enactments.
~Otaku-Man
This Gandhi thing seems more nebulous to me; turning a treadmill into an interface input is pretty cool, but that's engineering, not art. I would hope he would pony up more details on what motivates this project and what the goal of this 'performance intervention' in Second Life is in the near future. It strikes me that this isn't especially worthwhile art yet, but that it could be.
Anyone know what he's trying to accomplish with this?
He is doing it to be an asshat. I think he is too stupid to realise a game is a game it doesn't matter who makes it or why. I played the political punch bush in the face did i feel compelled to punch him in the face in real life? no. I played Americas Army. Was I compelled to join the army? no. I think he is protesting the militairy in general with his memorial by trying to hurt their recruiting tool. He is a joke. I agree with Tom. he is going to be nice and comforable all the way to nowhere on his treadmill.
Gandhi believed that wealth without work, without labor, to be meaningless. By walking on a treadmill I am at working for my time in second life - I am earning this wealth of virtual experience. Is there a connection to this work and the Iraq war? Gandhi was protesting British colonialism/imperialism and the exploitation of his nation's resources (in this instance salt). Yes, there is a connection here in regard to examining a historic occasion of opposition to the forces of imperialism. Perhaps a nuanced connection to the United States current foreign policy, but the connections are apparent when you think about it.
I make no claims to taking ANY type of heroic actions in regard to this reenactment - I am intentionally reenacting the Salt March within Second Life and on a treadmill as an experiment. I wanted to see what it was like to physically commit to walking 240 miles all the while being in a virtual space where one literally has no need to commit to much of anything save pretending to be someone other. This contrast between commitment and fantasy is interesting and worth investigating, particularly considering how much time we, as a culture, spend online.
FYI, so far I have walked 32 miles in three days and have yet to collapse, thank you for your confidence. Feel free to come and join me in SL, would welcome the debate and the company.
I'm not on Second Life at current and don't expect to be at least before my semester is out, so I hope you catch this comment and are able to reply here.
Given your explanation (and thanks for that) of the project, I'm left with a few questions.
dead-in-iraq seemed to me to be so effective because of its being set in America's Army as a site-specific work. That was an especially fertile virtual spot to plant the questions the performance asked, because America's Army is bound up in the exact ideology being critiqued in the piece. That seemed to be the ingenious part of it. Second Life as an environment doesn't seem to take advantage of this same kind of connection, so I'm interested to know your take on what (if anything) makes up for that and whether anything even has to. Does this project demand, or could it benefit from site-specificity in the same way?
I'm working through this distinction between commitment and fantasy, and I'm not sure what to make of it. Coming at it from the perspective of Goffman's 'everyday life as performance' school of thought, I'm not sure whether your emulation of Gandhi is less a committed role than your everyday performance of Professor Joseph Delappe. Perhaps that's the wrong perspective for me to approach it from, and I'll continue to evaluate that.
Best,
Mike