La Bible Electronique et La Guerre Du Golfe

This 'story' (which had some interesting , often funny, coincidental narrative qualities) was then used as a script for the audiovisual. We decided that the approach of the script should be linear, that each sentence was worth 3 sec and that we would work separately (sound vs. image) according to that structure, without any other agreements. In the end we had 320 slides and 16 min of soundtrack. The slides and the soundtrack used elements from the story and were separate , complementary interpretations of the story. Occasionally, there were some surprising coincidences and narrative qualities. The story is offered to the audience of the audiovisual, as a libretto. One of the interesting things is that, when translated (the original version is in Flemish), the alphabetical order changes here and there and so does the narration. The work premiered on 7 December 1991 in Gent, during the third annual Festival of Narratives, in a 'livingroom ' setting, using a four-channel audio system and four digitally controlled slide projectors. LAsCAUX Ben Britton, 1053 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA 94IIO, U.S.A. Lascaux is a virtual-reality installation. Its purpose is to reflect humanity and inspire peace, respect and consideration . In the gallery are two rooms: the Nave and the Sanctuary. The audience sits in the Nave and watches on video monitors through the eyes of the viewer who interacts in the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is a private room designed for one viewer at a time. It is a dark room. In this darkened room is a pool of light. In the light are a chair, ajoystick and virtual-reality goggles. The viewer enters the dark room, enters the pool of light, puts on the virtual-reality goggles. A small stone lamp is visible in the niche on the wall. A red spot is painted on the wall. The viewer picks up the lamp and another dot becomes visible. He or she moves towards it, and a row of dots leads off into the darkness into the cave (Color Plate A No.3). Sometimes it is difficult to follow the trail of dots. If the viewer follows far enough, he or she comes to a large lit hall where stone lamps on wall ledges illuminate giant paintings of animals. Side corridors lead off to other grottos. At the opposite end, the hall opens to a longer, wider tunnel, the ceilings and sides of which are painted with figures. At the end are three dots. If the viewer stares at the paintings, they 'come to life' and reveal visions (through motion video and audio displayed in the goggles). If the viewer gazes on the fish, he or she comes underwater with fish all around, as if he or she were in the midst of a salmon run. If the viewer looks at a cow, he finds himself in a herd with mooing snouts, tails, hooves, flanks all around. Other events include sky, forest, waterfalls , lions, deer, bison, horse, bird and bear. After each vision, the viewer is returned to the cave. Searching through the cave, the viewer finds interactive images hidden in niches that lead to other sequences. One of the hidden images is of a human being. When the viewer interacts with the image of the human, a figure appears in the cave initiating a secret, conveying a prophecy and greeting from real spirits. This experience is observed only in the Sanctuary-it is not perceived by those in the Nave. Lascaux is related to our civilization. It celebrates innocence and examines human fault. It explores future, present and past. It speaks about love, fear and courage. It is a vessel of a message of peace. PHOTO STAMPS/WITNESS Sas Colby, Box 795, El Prado, New Mexico 87529, U.S.A. During the years 1982-1989 I produced a series of miniature photographs that were printed in grids and gummed and perforated like postage stamps. I called them 'photo stamps', and thought of them as my visual vocabulary , using the images the way a writer uses words. Each was a kind of rebus. Compositions of stamps could be deciphered like puzzles. Many stamps were produced from my original photographs and collages as well...