Magic, Mixed Realities & Misdirection A thesis submitted to the College of Fine Arts, at the University of New South Wales In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy in Media Arts. Alex Davies 2013 i. Acknowledgements General Thank you to all individuals involved with the Linz-based artist’s group Time’s Up: Dr. Tim Boykett, Tina Auer, Mark 9, Just Merit, Andreas Mayrhofer , Andrea Strasser, Luis Wohlmuther, Andreas Strauss and Markus Luger. These inspiring people have significantly influenced and supported my creative endeavours for over a decade. Both artworks that form the basis of this thesis were primarily developed while working with Time’s Up during 2008-2010. I would also like to express my gratitude to Dr Alexandra Crosby for her considerable input to this thesis and Prof. Ross Harley, Dr. Michele Barker, Adam Mada, Andrew Frost, Luka Davies, Kathryn Davies, Dr. Peter Bruce and Dr. Lizzie Muller for each of their contributions. The Black Box Sessions Thanks to all at Time’s Up and, in particular, thanks to Dr. Tim Boykett for production support in Linz. Also thanks to Brendan Lloyd and Dr. Michaela Davies who were invaluable during the Sydney production and installation phases of the work. I would also like to acknowledge other individuals and organizations that assisted in the realization of the work including James Hurley, Andrew Maher, Holly Williams, Tania Creighton, Alice McAuliffe, Dr. Adam Jasper, Martin Crouch, UTS Gallery, HAIP Festival, Architekturforum Oberösterreich, Kunstuniversität Linz, Nadine and FoAM. Considerable gratitude goes out to the following performers for offering their time and talents: Scott Sinclare, Dr. Didi Bruckmayr, Roland Penzinger, Patrick Huber, Conny Kraus, Bert Zet, Matthew Stegh, Justin Shoulder, Celia Curtis, Marty Jay, Claire Conroy, Annabel Lines, Pete Manwaring, Chas Glover, Adam Mada, Melissa Hunt, Dr. Lian Loke, Mike Lira, Dr. Michaela Davies, Reuben Alexander and Lucas Abela. i Häusliches Glück Once again, thanks go to Time’s Up, and, in particular, Andreas Mayrhofer for co- developing the work with me; Marc 9 and Markus Luger for their cunning solutions to mechanical problems; and Julia Stoff/ Linz09 for commissioning the work. I would also like to express my gratitude to the projects actors: Maria Fliri, Georg Bonn, Luis Wohlmuther, Bronwynn Mertz-Penzinger, Karin Schmidt, and the following individuals who contributed their time and expertise to the work: Anatol Bogendorfer, Chistoph Haderer, Julia Kofler and Nina Fuchs. ii ii. Statement of Authentication ORIGINALITY STATEMENT ‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.’ Signed …………………………………………….............. Date ……………………………………………................. COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ‘I hereby grant the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all proprietary rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstract International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only). I have either used no substantial portions of copyright material in my thesis or I have obtained permission to use copyright material; where permission has not been granted I have applied/will apply for a partial restriction of the digital copy of my thesis or dissertation.' Signed ……………………………………………........................... Date …………………………………………….............................. AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT ‘I certify that the Library deposit digital copy is a direct equivalent of the final officially approved version of my thesis. No emendation of content has occurred and if there are any minor variations in formatting, they are the result of the conversion to digital format.’ Signed ……………………………………………........................... Date ……………………………………………........................... iii iii. List of Tables and Figures Figure 1 The Virtuality Continuum [Milgram & Kishino 1994]. .......................................... 3 Figure 2 Mixed Fantasy Framework in [Stapleton, Hughes et al.2002a] ............................. 5 Figure 3 Floating lady illusion, Keller 1894 {Grafton, 2011 #581} .................................... 7 Figure 4 Magic Lantern apparatus ........................................................................................... 13 Figure 5 Dislocation, installation view, Liverpool UK ............................................................ 19 Figure 6 Dislocation, green screen production ........................................................................ 20 Figure 7 Dislocation, audience members situated at screens, Sydney Australia .................. 22 Figure 8 Dislocation, view of screen space, virtual character (rear) audience (at screen), Melbourne Australia .................................................................................... 24 Figure 9 Dislocation, view of screen space, virtual character directly addressing an audience member, ................................................................................................. 25 Figure 10 Dislocation, view of screen space (virtual character on phone), Tokyo Japan ................................................................................................................ 26 Figure 11 Dislocation, audience member interacting with virtual character positioned at left screen, ........................................................................................... 27 Figure 12 Sawing a Woman in Half illusion ................................................................................. 34 Figure 13 Roger Fenton, Valley of the Shadow of Death with cannon balls absent (above) and present (below) ......................................................................... 52 Figure 14 Brian Walski, British Soldier in Basra (two source images upper, final composite, lower) ....................................................................................................... 54 Figure 15 Ruggero Deodato, Cannibal Holocaust, film poster ................................................. 58 Figure 16 Myrick & Sánchez, The Blair Witch Project, film still ............................................... 60 Figure 17 Cardiff & Miller, The Paradise Institute ...................................................................... 63 Figure 18 Janet Cardiff, Walks (binaural recording process) ................................................. 65 Figure 19 Nigel Helyer, Sonic Landscapes ................................................................................... 66 Figure 20 Teller demonstrating The Miser’s Dream .................................................................. 70 Figure 21 A HMD (and Data Glove) interface ....................................................................... 73 Figure 22 Jonas Dahlberg, Safe zones, no 7 (The toilets at ZKM), left image, CCTV outside toilet, ............................................................................................................... 76 iv Figure 23 The Black Box Sessions, installation layout, HAIP 2008 .......................................... 81 Figure 24 The Black Box Sessions, view of screen space ........................................................... 82 Figure 25 The Black Box Sessions, production stills of a selection of performers from Linz and Sydney ............................................................................................... 85 Figure 26 The Black Box Sessions – enclosure (with door removed-left) and camera / IR flood lights (right), ............................................................................... 88 Figure 27 The Black Box Sessions, installation view at HAIP (with lights on) in which the upper speaker on the left simulates the virtual door and the lower speaker, the performer's amplifiers, HAIP 2008 ........................................ 91 Figure 28 The Black Box Sessions, Las Venus performance with theremin, HAIP 2008 .................................................................................................................. 92 Figure 29 The Black Box Sessions, ‘Minty’ the Usher announcing upcoming show ............. 95 Figure 30 The Black Box Sessions, entrance with automated lighting entry indicators and signage, UTS Gallery ....................................................................... 97 Figure 31 The Black Box Sessions, exterior signage .................................................................... 99 Figure 32 The Black Box Sessions, Patrick Huber during virtual performance, HAIP 2008