Evocations that haunt the computer interface
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2238-7714.no.2022.205337Keywords:
Invocation, Evocation, Digital media, Robotic art, Computer gamesAbstract
Although computers are rationalist, they recall the occult in answering users’ invocations with evocations. Invocations call non-humans for signs during crises. Outputs are evocative signs with affective impact and meaning. While legacy media are evocative, transporting or broadcasting signs, invocational media creates networked cybernetic relations in a lively quasi-magical communication. This article evaluates the evocative intensity of two invocational works that recall the mystical heritages of technology: Silent Hill, a horror video game series, and Ai-Da, a robot artist.
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Copyright (c) 2023 Chris Chesher
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