We are pleased to present our submission to the New Voices/New Visions competition: An Other World.
In addition to being an exploration of ideas of Otherness, An Other World is a model of future possibility: a plug-in repository of cultural criticism, where point of view is everything and all that exists are instant connections in a database of human knowledge. This project presents only ideas of what might constitute An Other World, exploring them with an assemblage of fragments of knowledge.
The principal interface of An Other World consists of sixteen screens connected in such a way as to simulate the surface of a large (virtual) sphere. The explorer moves over the surface, which is presented as images of other earths, both historical (the movement of Ghengis Khan╒s nomadic tribes across the Asian steppe in 1227) and newly visualized (a pseudo-color photograph of Tokyo, taken from an orbiting satellite).
To the sound of a musical refrain, the explorer is presented with a second single metaphorical image floating on each surface or region: a button and point of entry into a specific aspect of our exploration of Otherness. Clicking on these images punches through the surface of An Other World, allowing exploration of the labyrinths below.
Although the parts of An Other World were created on a variety of Macintosh computers, the program was assembled using a Quadra 800. For optimum performance, we strongly recommend running it on a Quadra- or Centris-series Macintosh, with System 7.1, 8-bit color, and 5 MB available RAM. We have submitted An Other World on a 3.5½½ magneto-optical disk formatted using FWB Hard Disk Toolkit.
An Other World was created by Nigel Brookes (concept, research, scanning, scripting), Mark Bradford (research, design, typography), and Jeni Little (research, music). It was constructed in Aldus SuperCard. Images were created using Adobe Photoshop and Aldus Freehand, and the music was created with MacroMind SoundEdit Pro.
Happy exploration.
For further information, please contact us:
E-Mail: n.brookes@auckland.ac.nz
Phone: 00 1 64 9 3737999 x6250 (work)
00 1 64 9 6208410 (home)
Post: P.O. BOX 16-232
Sandringham
Auckland
New Zealand.
Running AN OTHER WORLD:
1. Copy the TrueType Font Orator into your System Folder. For optimum performance, copy AN OTHER WORLD (22MB) onto your hard drive.
2. Double-click AN OTHER WORLD╒s icon to launch.
3. The program will load and, and after a short animated introduction, will stop on Bruegel╒s TOWER OF BABEL. Scroll around this poster for an introduction to AN OTHER WORLD.
4. To continue, click the arrow.
5. Click through the program instructions and . . .
6. Enter AN OTHER WORLD. Move your mouse North, South, East, or West to the edges of the window, and the world will scroll accordingly. There are sixteen screens, each an entrance to an exploration of Otherness. Passing over the poles will flip you around. North is always at the top.
7. Click one of the central buttons, and a second window will open. In this window you will be presented with:
Ñ a menu allowing further choice;
Ñ a slide show containing image/text/sound and posters; or
