Gusztáv Hámos, Katja Pratschke

ARTWORK

television art / video art

1998

English, German, Japanese

Five specialists assisted (somewhat like midwives) at the birth of Kyoko Date, the popular cyber-icon, until her face was as lively and her hips as flexible as those of a flesh-and-blood girl. Her personality, however, was influenced solely by Yoshitaka Hori, the man who dreamed her up, the ideal woman, who until then had only existed in his imagination. An analysis of the role-play cult popular in the 1990s provides a parallel to the first steps of the virtual star. This is why we see a small group in grassy open fields at the base of an ancient castle, with club and sword in hand, as they enact an anachronistic story of medieval knights, thieving women, and depraved bandits. In contrast with the events of the cyber world, role-playing demands physical and mental presence of the participants. The parallel presentation of the two worlds is also done with computer animation, in addition to the broad application of the various tools of video. (Evelin Páll)