Feed Lack Loop review
Feed Lack Loop was a one off live art performance simultaneously performed at the Lighthouse, Brighton and inside the virtual world Second Life in March 2008.
Feed Lack Loop was the brain child of Micheál O’Connell, a local artist, former stand up comedian and currently a lecturer in Digital Media at the University Of Brighton. It featured David Thompson – a stand up comedian, TV writer and actor, also known for being the man inside the Teletubbie Tinky Winky who was sacked in 1997 for making the character too camp.
Very little was known about the event when we arrived, other than it was also somehow taking place in Second Life, an online virtual world, as well as in Brighton. The performance consisted of a man (David Thompson) stood in front of a screen, which showed a Second Life character or ‘avatar’ (as seen above). When the avatar moved, the man tried to copy his movements, sometimes successfully, sometimes less so. The avatar remained stood in one spot during the hour long duration of the performance, and the movements were limited to shrugging, laughing and spinning round. There was also a sound element, loud tapping on a keyboard and roaring, which the real person would copy.
At the same time, we could see what other people in Second Life were saying about the performance in the corner of the screen, and someone in the room would talk to them on his laptop (pictured above). On this laptop we could see the other people in Second Life watching the performance and commenting. At the back of the room was another laptop, and this one seemed to be controlling the avatar, with various people taking turns to perform a series of repetitive movements.
Although the people in both the real world and the virtual world started off quiet, as the performance went on this soon changed. The majority of people in the Lighthouse started chatting, paying little attention to the performance. Many people did seem to be talking about the performance though, and Second Life itself. Those who were watching were mainly paying attention to the conversations going on inside the virtual world, most of which were quite negative about the performance.
After the hour was over, the artist held a discussion about what had gone on. He seemed a very dry and amusingly cynical individual, who had little time for the world of Second Life himself. He explained his motives for doing the piece, which were supposed to be a statement about how interactivity is not always necessary. He explained that the piece was meant to be repetitive, slightly stupid, and a kind of background almost musical piece. It was not entertainment per se, but a hark back to performance art of the 60’s and 70’s which was something original and different to art on the wall or sculpture. I would agree – that’s exactly what this reminded me of, slightly ridiculous but potentially very thought provoking stuff. By adding technology into the mix, this also becomes somewhat groundbreaking, although in practice is also tedious and boring to simply watch for an hour.
Peoples own reactions to the piece varied, some seemed angry – one guy walked out at the beginning when the actor began to growl declaring ‘Now this is just plain scary!’. Others seemed to have enjoyed the reactions of others to the piece whilst being themselves bored by what was going on.
Some people seemed to think this event was supposed to be promoting Second Life, particularly “Bernard Herzog” who created an online version of Brighton in Second Life. When asked by the artist why he was interested in Second Life he responded by promoting ‘New Brighton’ and scarily stating that he would have shot the performer, or at least ‘thrown a few melons at him’ if he had been in Second Life at the time, so dull did he find the performance. Does this even answer the question? I guess if you think carefully, it does…
Insulting the artist seemed to be the order of the day from one or too others in the audience, and by the end he appeared quite annoyed in fact, muttering “are we done then” before disappearing off. This was the highlight of the event for me, to see people getting angry, agitated, confused and excited by a performance – surely better than sitting there without any opinion other than ‘that was OK’. Yes, the performance itself was nothing outstanding, but it was brave, intriguing and interesting – and what a reaction!
Its a shame nobody asked the artist why he chose Second Life as a medium, where he discovered it, and whether he was pleased or not with the results. Instead we had a lot people declaring their opinions and asking some odd and slightly bewildering questions. All however, a very different and fun way to spend an evening.
Further info
Micheál O’Connell’s website features more work by the artist and an essay on Jokes, Repetition and Performance in art which explains some more of the concepts behind the performance.
Visit Ars Virtua to explore more art in Second Life, they worked on this event and have a virtual gallery and media centre in the world.
Check out Bernard’s site – newbrightonpier where you can see images of, and visit, his island New Brighton Second Life, there’s a remarkably accurate representation of the pier in there too!
The script writer and director of the performance was Partho Sen-Gupta, an Indian Bollywood Art Director, find out more on his Wikipedia article.
Drop in on one of the galleries who were involved in the event – Grey Area, at 31 Queens Road, Brighton (near the train station). We’ll be adding them to our listings of exhibitions in Brighton and will be listing future events like this one at the Lighthouse and other small local galleries there.
