Of all the concepts presented in Chapter 1 of Aesthetics of Interaction in Digital Art by Katja Kwastek, the concept of alinearity really stands out to me. As a storyteller, I’m interested in bespoke ways of telling stories and eliciting emotion, and particularly Stefan Schemat’s work with “Wasser” immediately sparked ideas of my own. I’m interested in telling stories that take place over time, and most importantly, being able to merge in certain sounds, audio fragments and direct quotes to assist in real-time world-building.

For context, Stefan Schemat is a Berlin-based artist and designer. His 2004 work titled “Wasser” (Water) is an interactive project that blends literature, fine arts, time-based media and performance arts together. Taking place along the coastal area of Cuxhaven, Germany, it requires participants to act as detectives investigating a missing persons case, each equipped with a notebook, GPS device and headphones. The participant’s exact location is tracked by the GPS, and each location within the designated space triggers narration and other sonic elements depending on where they are over an hour-long mission.

A specific project I have in mind involves taking participants through a live map of my own coming to age experience. I imagine I could recreate “Wasser” by creating an installation that comprises key locations throughout my life: Kansas City, Atlanta, Los Angeles and now Brooklyn. Schemat’s work is laid over a real location, but I would have to create my own environment; that’s where the fun would come in. I would somehow bring to life evenings at my childhood home, loud family gatherings at my Granny’s, the breathiness of a tired pastor, the ding-dong of entering a liquor store. By combining real-life props (cell phones, old TV remotes, game controllers), location-based triggers, illustrations and archived media, this could tell the story of what it was like to group up right as the world went fully digital. It would also absolutely exist in the alinearity category because the intent of the installation would be predicated on the participants’ ability to move about, engage and experience my life on their own terms.

Site view (Cuxhaven, Germany, 2004)