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182 Artists’ Statements APPARATUS 3957 Bill Hill, Florida Southern College, 111 Lake Hollingsworth Drive, Lakeland, FL 33801-5698, U.S.A. E-mail: . Manuscript received 14 December 1998. Accepted for publication by Roger F. Malina. As a media artist, my concerns are with what lies beneath the surface of our collective identity. As technology increasingly blends itself with our culture, it both separates and homogenizes experiences . The notion of a permanent and accessible form gives way to the ephemeral signal, leaving behind only the residue of its meaning. Apparatus 3957 (Fig. 6) exists as an interactive installation that examines mind control and the digital technology we use every day. By hooking him or herself into the apparatus, the user is forced into a circular motion while being exposed to his or her choice of operating system. By utilizing the principles of classical conditioning, the user produces a physical reaction to the visual and audio stimulus. After repeated sessions in the device, the user’s body produces the physical reaction of dizziness and nausea. As a result, an aversion to the user’s computer is generated within the user. Essentially, I am an electronic media artist who works with various ways of connecting the physical “real” world with the virtual “hyper” world. In Apparatus 3957, I have constructed an interactive Fig. 6. Bill Hill, Apparatus 3957, steel wool, motor, LCD panel, pre-programmed operating system, 10 square feet, 1998. Video still of an interactive conditioning session. installation that consists of a body apparatus that constricts the user’s range of motion, a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel that projects the user’s choice of operating system and a motor-driven device that physically forces the user’s body into a circular motion. The purpose for the installation is twofold: 1. It functions as a commentary on the insatiable appetites our culture has for electronic technology—specifically digital environments—and what extremes we will endure in order to consume more electronic information (even when this consumption causes physical discomfort). 2. It is about control through conditioning —specifically how electronic technology controls us and forces us to adapt to its methods, pacing and protocols , much like the amputee who remaps his or her muscular networks in order to control a prosthesis. Whether this remapping affects the physical operations of the body or the mental perceptions of reality, our collective evolution is becoming more and more a hybrid of the machines we use. My work generally focuses on how the physical body remaps itself to blend with the machine, or—in this case— how the body can be programmed to reject the machine. The physical apparatus is constructed of welded steel and uses four padlocks to secure the participant. The LCD panel slides into a position directly in front of the participant’s vision and displays a functioning operating system. The participant is then fastened into the motor drive wheel, which is also constructed of welded steel and has four wooden arms that rotate in a counterclockwise direction. Once the session begins, the participant is physically and emotionally forced into a mechanical pacing that results in the intended conditioning . ...

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