A Message from Cyberspace by Chipka
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Description
1:
You’re uncertain if those digital eyes actually see anything in your world, but they are there. Staring. They do not blink. And you—seated in front of that gaze—are aware that the digital figure in his digital world is somehow aware of you. He is static, but there is interaction in his stillness. Words reveal themselves on his fingers. Lines of code stream behind him like whispers just left to the range of human hearing. He nearly smiles as he presents the gift of strange light.
>KNOW THYSELF< he informs you.
>LAF< he says, intentionally mis-spelling the word.
You are sure that this avatar has a flesh-world component: some random guy with writing on his fingers and nail-polish in mis-matched colors. Because of the domain he occupies, you suspect that he might be Russian, and your guess is half right. Russia is his place of origin, though he is Canadian in terms of citizenship. None of this matters of course. And yet, as with all data, it is there. Latent. Waiting for use.
>KNOW THYSELF<
>LAF<
* * *
2:
I know those words.
I know the fingers on which they were written. I remember a morning that began with cheesecake and ended—invariably—with beer. Ah…life in Prague goes in that direction at times. And in honor of that day and the friend who sought existential truths in rubbish bins, and the feel of Cedar boughs beneath his fingertips, an avatar has found its way into the aether of cyberspace. As we all know, the avatar is not the man, and yet they are linked—even if only through random accident.
* * *
3:
A thin wave of laughter spreads through the binary sea, flipping 0/1 switches into their opposite configurations. It dissipates quickly, leaving ghosts in its wake like the red glow of compressed and ionized hydrogen. There is no compressed and ionized hydrogen in this domain of cyberspace, but the analogy holds in the wake of laughter. Compressed bits of errant data give rise to something coherent, but vague, something fragile and soon-to-fade. But for now, somewhere behind the thin wave of laughter, ripples eddy through the wake…
* * *
As always, thank you for viewing, commenting, and reading.
Comments (16)
zoren
brilliant.....
Foto-Arte
Excellent!
MrsRatbag
Wow! Deep...compelling....
beachzz
Wow, this is spectacular, you got me from the first word.
auntietk
It does feel like I have a sort of static relationship with this person. I believe he is looking at his computer screen, seeing some version of "me," something perhaps not physically manifested, but "me," nonetheless. Perhaps he sees a woman with camera lenses for eyes, their glass reflecting subjects out of view. And I wonder ... if someone else is looking at this at the same time I am, would I see that person reflected in his eyes? What would HE see?
helanker
LOL ! Il just say that was excellent and i like the shot too.
durleybeachbum
All most disturbing, at one level anyway! I try not to concern myself with matters I don't understand.. Another brill piece of writing, and a gripping image.
kgb224
Outstanding work of art and story Line my friend.
myrrhluz
I love Tara's comment. I was thinking alone similar lines after reading '1', but she expressed it much better than I would have and took it further. It's interesting the connections you can feel when looking into someones eyes in an image. As you search for their identity, they seem to be searching for yours in return. And an actual link between image and the flesh and blood person seems inevitable. If his image were being stared at by hundreds of people at the same time, would that strengthen him, weaken him, cause him to lose all bearings on reality, or just be a vague itch that he couldn't quite identify enough to scratch. And on the other end, what does it do to the viewer. There's that vague feeling of someone entering his mind, and doing...what? In this case giving him a strange light and whispered lines of code. This enters into his mind, seems to fade, but perhaps stays just a little, as a hint of feeling. A hint that in certain situations will give a nudge, perhaps alter a decision and change his life. Whether for good or evil, it can be quite eventful to stare into digital eyes. Image and narrative both wonderful! You started with a very compelling gaze. Wonderful postwork to bring out the amazing possibilities in that gaze. Excellent!
mininessie
i like the concept :D
Meisiekind
I'm speechless! Chip at his best! :))
blondeblurr
What are you doing to my mind ? when I first looked at this I got a bit confused, spun out and lost for words... But then the lights came on, aha... BIG BROTHER is watching, of course ! ( BTW I agree, he is still a Russian) After sorting out all those layers of photo manipulation, I finally got to the nitty-gritty bits and discovered, that you only mentioned 2 fingers with writings on them, the ring-finger was omitted, with the red nail-polish: >TIMES NO SEE< (I can't be too sure, if it said >TIMES...?) But I like to believe it, because it makes some sort of sense, after all we cannot see time, we live in the present, past and future. I watched this amazing T.V. program on our ethnic channel SBS: 'What time is it', where Professor Brian Cox explores the nature of time and somehow this reminded me of it. Another notch under your belt, brill! BB
claude19
A very nice explanation of virtual images that we see, without resonance, but in the case of portraits, know they are being watched; When I hang an abstract painting, regardless of what stroke of artistic heart that I 'I work to show what it is that I know the different impact that my work will have on visitors! So for me, a beautiful philosophical reflection on the Web!
xpersona
Doskonałą praca Doskonała sceneria i koloryt. Wielka sztuka pasji montowania. Pozdrawiam miło.
sandra46
exceptional creation!
CoreyBlack
This is great! It has this kind of psychedelic cyberpunk thing going on; a bit like William Gibson high on some natural substance, listening to a futuristic version of The Doors. Yes, it's all those things and many more: so why does it remind me of a 1970s Blue Öyster Cult album cover? Your friend's sinisterly seductive countenance seems to say "Come on baby, don't fear the reaper," to me. In fact, that song began playing through my head the instant I saw this picture. Very nice work, great manipulation. Really great all around!