I Obviously Have Some Issues I Need to Work Out

There's a story from my subconscious somewhere in here

The majority of my visual work over the last few years was created through this basic process:

1. Wait for a concrete idea to pop into my mind. (Like the recent Whack-a-Doodle game)
2. Pick an output medium (comic/video/etc.)
3. Write a script if needed
4. Choose one or more visual creation platforms (SL/Frameforge/Photo/etc.)
5. Crank it out, usually in a half-day or less

Although my recent Polaroid Micro-Story series began life with a similar workflow, it has evolved into a very different process:

1. Comb through a collection of dolls, toys and action figures
2. Select one or more that catch my eye
3. Pose them in various ways and try to capture an evocative image
4. Sit with it and wait for a story to emerge
5. Create a caption

The first process I described starts with a mental concept which is then visualized. The second reverses the order by starting with the image and then conceptualizing an associated story. I recently realized that the latter process is a form of Sandtray Therapy. Given what's come up so far,  I obviously have some "issues" I need to work out.

Here's the 100 Word Story that emerged from the image above:

Spawn of Satan 

Mama has a million stories about the identity of my father. She's never repeated one twice. And she tells each version, no matter how fantastical, with the complete conviction of the consummate carny she is. But my truth is stranger than her fictions. 

You see, I'm no ordinary girl. Not even close. The small town kids who gawk at me in the sideshow would pee their pants if I let my predator's gaze capture their eyes. But I have to bide my time until my first red moon. That's when the power wakes up and all hell breaks loose. Literally.

Be Careful What You Wish For

I've been having a lot of fun over the past few months with Polaroid MicroStories. Although work using physical world dolls, toys and actions figures may seem off-topic for a blog about virtual identity, it's very complementary. The process of reification that transforms a couple of dolls pulled off a shelf into a character-based narrative also molds our conception of everyday experience. Our internal judgements shape our sense of reality in the same way that the caption imposes story and identity on an otherwise ambiguous image.

I'm Your Mirror . . .

We're suckers, believing almost every thought that comes into our minds. This is especially true when it comes to our conceptions of other people. Although it feels like we can look into each other's souls, we're mostly just seeing our own distorted reflection.

Frank finally had enough . . .

Santorum's warnings . . .

Bad Santa?

One of the most valuable things I've learned from virtual worlds is that our conception of reality is based as much upon imaginary projection as objective perception. In a virtual world such as Second Life we can easily remember that there is software behind the beautiful sky we see. With a little more effort and attention we can even keep in mind that there is a human of unknown age, gender and appearance behind the avtar we're interacting with.

Being able to shift awareness in and out of immersion in virtual life is a great exercise for awakening to the analogous phenomenon in the atomic world. Our experience of physical life is no less a construction of our minds. The dome of Earth's sky is actually blue light scattered across the atmosphere. Although we can't read other people's minds, we usually act as if we know exactly what they're thinking.

For the past year or so, I've been playing around with using dolls and action figures to expose how our minds reflexively construct personality, identity and story. For instance, the toys in the image above weren't posed. The were just sitting on a shelf at an antique mall. But one glance was all it took for my mind to reflexively translate the sensory impressions into an evocative story. By noticing and capturing this mental process with toys, my hope is that I'll have an easier time remembering it with people. Someday.

I Am Not Playing!

Cindy's Inner Child

Buffy is Exhausted

After having a lot of fun with 100 Word Stories, I recently stumbled onto an even more condensed micro-tale format in The Tiny Book of Stories. It's an anthology of 67 works that combine a few lines of text and an illustration. It's likely you'll see a lot more of these here over the next few weeks while I'm busy working on a new long-form comic, "The Death of Botgirl." (Yes. That was a teaser.)