Laurie
Anderson: PUPPET MOTEL
Published by Gallimard,
Paris, 1995.
Puppet Motel, an arts CD ROM by writer, musician, composer,
performer, and photographer Laurie Anderson, is an imaginary universe
made up of the interplay between light and darkness, mystery and poetry.
This universe is populated by puppets and, of course, its creator, the
artist herself. Wandering around the visitor is often tempted to put a
story together from the succesive images displayed on a virtual TV screen
in a "black jack manner" or from the objects found in a dim lit room but
in the end he must realize that he has been chasing after shadows since
the CD ROM does not belong to the tradition of the great narration. These
three dimensional virtual spaces are crammed with ghosts and secrets:
the visitor is constantly taken by surprise. He is trapped, over and over
again, by the virtual setting so he must switch off the computer and start
again in order to escape. This platonic vale of tears radiates an enigmatical
atmosphere which, all too often, appears manneristic and over-refined.
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