Conceptualisations of Self in Contemporary Interactive Artwork: A Case Study of Lynette Wallworth's Duality of Light

Abstract

This paper, which is contextualised in terms of the broader history of the moving image, examines new media artist Lynette Wallworth’s installation Duality of Light with respect to recent advances in neuroscientific research [1, 8]. These have led to greater understanding of how the brain processes visual imagery. Of greatest relevance to Wallworth’s work is the discovery that the binding of the largely anatomically segregated attributes of colour, motion and faces occurs asynchronously and is subject to a temporal hierarchy. Moreover, such binding is post-conscious. Further to this, following Gansing [3], while simultaneously factoring in these recent neuroscientific advances, the idea of ‘interactivity’ is challenged. The inadequacy of ‘interactive’ as an undifferentiated descriptor, often uniformly applied to diverse new media works, is also highlighted. Works such as those created by Wallworth – whose work is informed intuitively by these recent neuroscientific findings – reveal the shortcomings of such homogenising terminology. Finally, this exploratory paper, which will form the basis of further work, demonstrates the interwoven nature of the aforementioned subject matter and thematic concerns.