Telematic Dreaming

Inhaltliche Beschreibung

TELEMATIC DREAMING - Original statement
by Paul Sermon

"Telematic Dreaming" was originally produced as a commission for the annual summer exhibition curated by the Finnish Ministry of Culture in Kajaani, with support from Telecom Finland, in June 1992. The title and theme of the exhibition was derived from the notion of "home" as Jean Baudrillard understands it in his essay "The Ecstasy of Communication". In describing my installation I begin with a quote from another Baudrillard essay that presents the starting point for "Telematic Dreaming", through which it interprets itself as a critique of the essay.

"The celibacy of the machine brings about the celibacy of "Telematic Man". Exactly as he grants himself the spectacle of his brain and of his intelligence as he sits in front of the computer or word-processor, the "Telematic Man" gives himself the spectacle of his fantasies and of a virtual "jouissance" as he sits in front of his "minitel rose". He exorcises "jouissance" or intelligence in the interface with the machine. The Other, the sexual or cognitive interlocutor, is never really aimed at - crossing the screen evokes the crossing of the mirror. The screen itself is targeted as the point of interface. The machine (the interactive screen) transforms the process of communication, the relation from one to the other, into a process of commutation, ie. the process of reversibility from the same to the same. The secret of the interface is that the Other is within it virtually the Same - otherness being surreptitiously confiscated by the machine."

(Jean Baudrillard "Xerox and Infinity" pages 5. 6. ISBN 0-33701-88-9 Touchepas. Originally published as Le Xerox et L´Infini, Paris 1987)

Telematic Dreaming is an installation that exists within the ISDN digital telephone network. Two separate interfaces are located in separate locations, these interfaces in themselves are dynamic installations that function as customized video-conferencing systems. A double bed is located within both locations, one in a blacked out space and the other in an illuminated space. The bed in the light location has a camera situated directly above it, sending a live video image of the bed, and a person ("A") lying on it, to a video projector located above the other bed in the blacked out location. The live video image is projected down on to the bed with another person ("B") on it. A second camera, next to the video projector, sends a live video image of the projection of person "A" with person "B" back to a series of monitors that surround the bed and person "A" in the illuminated location. The telepresent image functions like a mirror that reflects one person within another persons reflection.

"Telematic Dreaming" deliberately plays with the ambiguous connotations of a bed as a telepresent projection surface. The psychological complexity of the object dissolves the geographical distance and technology involved in the complete ISDN installation. The ability to exist outside of the users own space and time is created by an alarmingly real sense of touch that is enhanced by the context of the bed and caused by an acute shift of senses in the telematic space. The users consciousness within the telepresent body is controlled by a voyeurism of its self. The cause and effect interactions of the body determine its own space and time, by extending this through the ISDN network, the body can travel at the speed of light and locate itself wherever it is interacting. In "Telematic Dreaming" the user exchanges their tactile senses and touch by replacing their hands with their eyes.



TELEMATIC DREAMING - Synopsis
by Paul Sermon

The semantic intensity of the bed

The bed is an object that is understood in all social and cultural contexts. Its semiotic language vary from the childhood context of security and play to the more complex context of privacy, intimacy and relaxation. When such a "charged" object is used as a telematic interface the user is confronted by the complexity of the object/interface and not the complexity of the technology. The telematic experience of communication is heightened when the technology involved is secondary to the primary point of importance, the bed interface. The technology disappears and becomes invisible. The bed is a very intensive object. The users are sometimes reluctant to enter "Telematic Dreaming", not because of the video technology, but because of the potential interaction on the bed in the public space.

The media is invisible

Technology of the media becomes invisible in the same way the technology of language is invisible. Reality has always been perceived through technology. Not the technology of silicon chips and binary code, but the technology of language. French linguist Ferdinand de Saussure explained that reality does not exist before language defines it. In the same way reality does not exist before media defines it. The technology of language is invisible, and can only be attempted to be deconstructed by the efforts of semiology, an analyses that is its self defined by language. The technology of media is in the same process of disappearance and will become increasingly harder to visualise and deconstruct.

Cause and effect

Wherever the body is causing an effect is definition that is where the body exists and within it consciousness resides. Therefore wherever the body is interacting is also where its consciousness exists. This definition is sometimes hard to take on when we refer to the cause and effects of an individual via texts, sounds, and images on a computer network, nevertheless the definition is the same. As an example, "Telematic Dreaming" is far easier to follow because it presents the interactions of the body at a distance in a physical form. When the user reaches out with their hand they interact, not in the local space, but in the distant one, and when they cause an effect to another physical body in the distant location it is evidence that is where their consciousness resides.

Entering and exiting

It is sometimes difficult for the user to break their concentration and return to the consciousness of their local body when leaving the installation. In the reverse - as hard as it is to enter the installation when onlookers are observing your consciousness enter it. Entering and exiting "Telematic Dreaming" are the most uncomfortable points for the user. But after a short period of time on the bed the users consciousness is no longer concentrated on the immediate environment but on the distant telematic one.

ISDN

In all the 10 occasions that "Telematic Dreaming" has been exhibited since its realization in Finland in 1992. It has only been connected via ISDN telephone lines, in the way it's intended, twice - In Finland and Tokyo. The ISDN connection allows the installation to be connected via geographically distant locations on a global scale. It is for two main reasons a far better option. Firstly because the user is very aware that they will not bump into the same person they previously interacted with, in the next room. Secondly because of the inadequacy of the ISDN telecommunications to do exactly what it should. Its not absolute real-time, there is always a slight delay between the two locations. This means the user has 1.5 seconds between the moment of cause and effect, requiring a higher level of concentration, created by momentary lapses of time when the user consciousness is racing back and forth between the local and the distant body. The user obtains a better understanding of the installation and its purpose.


Touching with your eyes

In "Telematic Dreaming" a process of sensory shift occurs. The sense of touch is made with your eyes. Sensory shift is nothing new, A person who has lost there sense sight will compensate by improving there other senses, most frequently the sense of hearing. Human senses, inner and outer, are far more complex and adaptive than we realize, when explored leading to transcendental states of mind. In "Telematic Dreaming" the user observes the movement of their body from outside it on a monitor that presents a telepresent replica. The eye acts as a sensory receptor of the movement and the cause and effects of touch.

The silent movie

Audio contact is never used in "Telematic Dreaming". The reason being, as soon as you let the users communicate by speech they will resort to that means of communication alone - as speech is a dominant form of communication between complete strangers. Without speech the two users have to discover new ways in which they can interact. Communication that is akin to the melodrama of the early silent movie.

The side affect

Users in previous exhibitions of "Telematic Dreaming" have expressed a psychological lift from their experience. The sensitivity of human contact is a very enriching and rewarding experience - everyone needs it. However certain cultural and political obstacles in western culture prevent many people from obtaining such a lift. "Telematic Dreaming" is not an alternative, its a learning experience, where the user discovers more about themselves and benefit from physical interaction that does not rely dominance or oppression but on the sensitivity of human contact.


Copyright - Paul Sermon © 1992 - all rights reserved

• › telematic dreaming_installation design [JPEG | 64 KB ] [link 02]
• › telematic dreaming_diagram 1 [10 KB ] [link 03]
• › telematic dreaming_diagram 2 [12 KB ] [link 04]
• › telematic dreaming_diagram 3 [11 KB ] [link 05]
• › telematic dreaming_diagram 4 [10 KB ] [link 06]
• › telematic dreaming_diagram 6 [13 KB ] [link 07]
• › telematic dreaming_sketch by paul sermon [22 KB ] [link 08]

Technische Beschreibung

Particular skills and resources necessary to realise the project:

Access to 2MB ISDN videoconferencing equipment and resources.

Hardware / Software

Version Internet - Equipment list
by Paul Sermon:

Projection location (Site 1) - see diagram 4 for installation plan.

1 x 2MB ISDN line or 3 x 64k ISDN line (6 x 64kbps "B" channel = 384 Kbps).
1 x 2MB Teleconferencing video codec or PictureTel 384 kbps codec and multiplexer.

1 x SharpVision XG-3800E LCD video projector or Sony VPL-350QM LCD video projector.
1 x 3CCD professional video camera - Sony DCR-VX1000E.
2 x Sony Trinitron PVM-2730QM monitor.

1 x Double bed, painted white, 200cm x 150cm x 20cm high - see diagram 1.
1 x Mattress 200cm x 150cm x 20cm high.
2 x Monitor plinth - wood structure, painted black, 65cm x 44cm x 54cm high - see diagram 1.
1 x Ceiling mounts for video camera, video projector and surface mirror - see diagrams 2 & 3.

1 x Double fitted white sheet for mattress 200cm x 150cm x 20cm high.
1 x Double quilt and white quilt cover, 200cm x 200cm.
2 x Pillow and white pillow case, 45cm x 75cm.
1 x Front surface mirror, 50cm x 50cm - see diagram 1.


Chroma-key location (Site 2) - see diagram 5 for installation plan.

1 x 2MB ISDN line or 3 x 64k ISDN line (6 x 64kbps "B" channel = 384 Kbps).
1 x 2MB Teleconferencing video codec or PictureTel 384 kbps codec and multiplexer.

1 x 3CCD professional video camera - Sony DCR-VX1000E.
1 x Digital chroma-keyer - Panasonic WJ-MX50 video mixer.
1 x S-VHS Video Player, with video output
4 x Sony Trinitron PVM-2730QM monitor.
4 x 500 watt chroma-key lamp.

1 x Double bed, painted white, 200cm x 150cm x 20cm high - see diagram 1.
1 x Mattress 200cm x 150cm x 20cm high.
4 x Monitor plinth - wood structure, painted black, 65cm x 44cm x 54cm high - see diagram 1.
1 x Ceiling mount for video camera - see diagram 3.

1 x Double fitted white sheet for mattress 200cm x 150cm x 20cm high.
1 x Double quilt and chroma-key blue quilt cover, 200cm x 200cm.
2 x Pillow and chroma-key blue pillow case, 45cm x 75cm.

Statement

Innovative aspect of the project and particular research interest:
The discovery of telepresence that coincided with the release of Howard Rheingold’s book “Virtual reality” and Jaron Lanier’s development of the “Virtuality” head-mounted-display. Telematic Dreaming took the conventional videoconference camera to monitor setup and turned it completely around. By combing the two remote participants in the same video image it became necessary to define this technology as a shared telepresent videoconference space.


Reactions to and evaluation of the project:
The initial reaction to the project has always been extremely difficult for the audience to deal with. Entering and exiting Telematic Dreaming are the most uncomfortable points for the user, but after a short period of time on the bed the users consciousness is no longer concentrated on the immediate environment but on the distant telematic one. In Telematic Dreaming a process of sensory shift occurs. The sense of touch is made with the eyes, the user observes the movement of their body from outside it on a monitor that presents a telepresent replica. The eye acts as a sensory receptor of the movement and the cause and effects of touch.

Updates or follow-up projects:
Telematic Dreaming has continued to be exhibited based on its original concept, only improvements in basic hardware such as videoconference systems, video projectors and camera technology have changed. Many follow-up projects have occurred since 1992, most significant was Telematic Vision produced in 1993 during an artist-in-residence programme at the ZKM Institute for Visual Media.

(Paul Sermon)

Ausstellungen / Präsentationen

• Paul Sermon: Since its realisation in 1992 Telematic Dreaming has been exhibited twenty one times at various art galley venues and media art symposiums throughout the world.

Referenzen

• Paul Sermon: There are a number of projects dealing with the notion of telepresence, most important and referential to Telematic Dreaming are the experiments by Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz, including “Hole-in-Space”.