Angler
Angler explores non-verbal, indirect, and metaphorical communication & boundary setting through the use of personally meaningful symbolic objects. In our familial, platonic, and romantic relationships, we use gestures to communicate codes as concise as “I’m glad you’re here”, and as complex as “I don’t want things to change,” “I wish you were different,” or “I need help but I’m embarrassed to ask.”
The piece consists of a game in which users perform gestures for a screen with a live webcam feed. They progress the game narrative by accepting and rejecting fruit, giving awkward Soviet cheek kisses, changing their clothes before seeing family, brushing their grandmother’s hair, and other day-to-day communications. This collection of gestures becomes a choreography that drives the relationships in the story. Users will perform with objects found in their homes or with printable 2D props. As a companion to the project, I’ll facilitate all-ages workshops in which participants will identify and create their own symbolic objects and gestures. Through these iterations, I aim to create a playful dialogue about what we attempt to leave unsaid, and what we reveal despite our best efforts.
Angler is supported by Isla Hansen at Carnegie Mellon University.