This project opened at the CHAT festival in February 2010 as an experiment led by collaborators Joyce Rudinsky from UNC and myself. Our goal is to explore the use of a game engine, Unity, as a platform artistic production, and as an experiment in collaborative authorship. While both of us work on all aspects of the project, my primary role is in developing the narrative components of the project, and conducting research on historical approaches to the condition and what we call the possible “palliative measures” achievable.
Version 1 Blurb:
‘Psychasthenia’ is an immersive artwork and psychological diagnostic environment. Therapeutic clients plug into the system’s sensors and navigate an expressive exterior space that changes according to their actions and responses to multimodal stimuli. The system’s media elements and user experiences are inspired by historical and contemporary diagnostic literature of the psychasthenic psychological disorder, which is characterized by phobias, obsessions, compulsions, or excessive anxiety. The experience of voyaging through the system reveals the unique character of the client’s inherent pathology and its lived expression, culminating in a summary diagnosis to carry back into daily life and interactions.
