toy
soldiers
helsinki, finland
2004
ddr : toy soldiers
This video work springs from captured footage documenting the fascinating
world of dancedance revolution, an interactive dance and arcade video
game that was invented in Japan in the late 90’s.
This video installation lures the viewer into the interactive world of video-gamers and their spectators. Initially this work was created around the parameters of a looped, one-minute video exploring the technical constructs of time and duration but in its process also critiques the public spectacle of the video arcade, its physical interactivity and communal space where urban youth choose to congregate, socialize and compete against each other bound by its media construct.
The footage for this video was captured as I was passing such a video
arcade in a shopping mall in Helsinki, Finland in November 2003. I was
immediately drawn into this company of youths as the foot-stomping sound
echoed in the mall space and resonated like an army of foot soldiers.
This video is looped and is set in motion immediately by two players
dancing frenetically on a pad with four colored arrows: up, down, left
and right - a compass of military funk, if you will, to illustrate the
speed of this robotic and mechanized dancercise right away. The inserted
militaristic audio track (inserted in advance of the mall audio track)
emphasizes the two contestants in a public spectacle whose performance
conjures up references of marching soldiers going to war.
As the video track heats up, using visual effects to emphasize the dance
frenzy, the speed and pitch of the audio track; forces the viewer to
identify with the heightened state of physical and mental fury of the
two players and mirrors the physical and aural rush felt by all participants…
Video gaming is a whole new concept of advertising. The hypnotic quality
of regular T.V. programming is multiplied as DDR directs its propaganda
to a generation that was brought up on T.V. and dance videos. All of
the five senses are constantly charged not only with visual animated
imagery but also by the challenge of a physical exertion brought on by
the blending of the creative power of images of fantasia as apposed to
real experience. It shapes our understanding of video
entertainment as a real-time event challenging mental competence and
fitness aptitude as a social norm concurrent with the synchronization
of its toy soldiers…
