Joe DeLappe is a digital media artist whose work is often a combination
of digital and electronic media with a physical counter-part in the form of sculpture
or installations. This work also includes interventions conducted in virtual spaces
such as Second Life or the US recruiting game American Army. His interventions
in virtual space opens up dialogue for topics like the Iraq War from the
perspective of the Iraq civilians and how much the US involvement has affected
their lives, especially with the use of drones. The purpose is of course to
show connections of physical and virtual realties that discuss Issues in
politics or explore historical and cultural contexts from a new perspective.
The works I found the most notable in his lecture was his
project The Salt Satyagrah Online: Gandhi’s
March to Dandi in Second Life. Starting in 2008 and extending into a series
of 3D printed and cardboard sculptures based on the Gandhi avatar created in Second
Life. From March 12th to April 6th, Joe DeLappe entered the Second Life
with his Gandhi Avatar to recreate the Salt March of 1930. The recreation of
this event was not done in only a pure virtual space, DeLappe also physically
walked the 240 miles on a treadmill. The steps recorded from the treadmill with
the use of sensors allowed him to move the Avatar forward. The reaction from
other users was surprising as well, for most of them casually talked to the
artist avatar, complemented his design and even started to join the march. The
physical component of this piece is an unique element to this reenactment. It
would have been not as physically taxing for the artist to conduct the march in
just the virtual space and the message about (how people in this cyberspace
would react to this figure and the historical context) would have been clear.
The willingness to experience the march in this physical extension shows a
dedication to experience at least some aspect of Gandhi’s experience during
this march. It also opens up dialogue of historical context in a space where
individuals can create this avatars representing people and events in this
alternate reality.
The other Work I was interested in was the intervention Dead in Iraq. In 2006, DeLappe played
the US Army Recruiting game, a government funded program where the game offers
a simulation of what warfare would be like. The entertainment aspect of it
makes it a very useful recruiting tool but the actual gameplay makes it feel
more of a shooter game making the experience a one-sided perspective. What
DeLappe did though, was to enter the game but not partake in the usual activities
of shooting and post names of fallen soldiers in Iraq. As you can imagined,
many people were upset by this, both the players and the family members of the
fallen. One player I believed even asked the artist why he wasn’t doing this in
fount of the recruitment center. And DeLappe I believed replied that since the
US military is supporting and running this game that he is essentially is doing
his work in a government space. And also, that he could reach far more people
through this virtual space as opposed to a physical space. This shows that the
virtual space can be a very effective way to open dialogue about issues and
perspectives that are not talked about. By posting the names of these soldiers
he’s showing how the nation uses this solider as a symbol yet rarely do people
get involved try to understand the individual, unless it’s the family, spouse,
or even close friends.
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