BLOG PROMPT ONE: Non-linear Narrative
My Boyfriend Came Back from the War (1996) by Olia Lialini and The Godlove Museum (1999-2006) by Entropy8Zuper!
PLEASE ANSWER BY POSTING COMMENTS.
Step all the way through My Boyfriend Came Back from the War (MBCBFTW) by Russian net art pioneer Olia Lialini and spend a few minutes exploring "The Godlove Museum" by the American-Belgian team Entropy8Zuper!.
NOTE: The Godlove Museum may not run well on contemporary browsers. That's okay - just look/play around to get a sense of the "experience" of the site.
What do you think MBCBFTW is about? How do these pieces challenge expectations about web design and linear narrative? Imagine how people might have felt seeing them at the time they were released in the very, very early years of the internet.
My Boyfriend Came Back from the War by Olia Lialini: http://www.teleportacia.org/war/
The God Love Museum by Entropy8Zuper!, artists Auriea Harvey and Michael Samyn: http://entropy8zuper.org/godlove/
I think My Boyfriend Came Back from the War (MBCBFTW) was an interesting way of sharing how this woman had insecurities about her relationship. She was afraid that he would leave her after some of the things that she had done. She also seemed very desperate about wanting him to change as well. She doesn't find security with him there and believes that he doesn't really love or appreciate her, but at the same time she wants to push the idea of forever with him.
ReplyDeleteMBCBFTW and The Godlove Museum majorly challenge expectations about web design. They both have more of a creepy pixelated style with a completely unfamiliar set up on how you navigate the page. The sole purpose of these pieces is to tell stories in different abstract ways without a clearly defined purpose. I believe most of the story is up to the interpretation of the viewer. These pieces also challenge a linear narrative. They remind me of a click and point horror game. They both have a general flow, but you can reveal the stories in different orders at your own pace- which I believe can help with different individual interpretations based along a general plot or theme.
Whenever these pieces were released, some people were probably very intrigued with the concept due to it being so different than what they were used to seeing. Others probably either hated it or didn't understand it.
I really enjoyed MBCBFTW and it really elicited a lot of emotions. I think it is about love and loss and fear and the connection between trauma (war) and human emotion. What started out as a linear narrative from the first few links on the page soon turned into chaos, different "puzzle" pieces everywhere. There was no direction and the contrast played a lot into receiving it as a fearful and chaotic experience. I think it says a lot about what war does to young people, how they leave a certain person and maybe come back a stranger. I also think that this concept can be applied in different scenarios where people lose each other in waves of change and new information.
ReplyDeleteThe God Love Museum challenged standard layout conventions by requiring you to scroll to the right rather than down like we normally would. Also the fact that it was very interactive was exciting. For example, at different sections of the page there would be small icons following the cursor across the screen, and text would change colors when you would hover over it. In MBCBFTW challenged layout and narrative as well in the way it didn't have a comprehensible story (though you could still piece a concept together from the content), and it also allowed you to change the layout by dragging the lines to create different sized boxes.
I think that in the early years of the internet people could have reacted in very different ways; some may have thought that this kind of technology was advanced and really incredible and entertaining to experience, whereas others may have thought it was pointless as the internet was mainly used for information. Those who were average users and not savvy internet users may not have even thought of it as an art piece.
I think MBCBFTW is about a conversation being had about fear of losing a once intimate, deep relationship. Since I wasn't prompted to navigate the story in a particular way, what I gathered from it was probably different than someone else. When I experienced it, I chose to alternate my clicks- moving back and forth on the page. This experience made it feel like I was reading dialogue from the male and female. What I gathered from it was that the woman was worried about the experience the man had had in war. It seemed she was afraid of how much his experiences had changed him. I went through the piece twice and gathered this same interpretation but in a different way. No matter how I chose to interact, the general story I had the first time.
ReplyDeleteThis challenges linear narrative because it is interactive. No one prompted me to experience this piece in a particular way. The interactivity of it allows for multiple interpretations. I think when it was published, most people probably didn't understand the piece. It was probably unlike anything people had experienced before.
The Godlove Museum did not work in my browser. I was able to see the layout of the page. The layout was fashioned on what seemed like a timeline, but I wasn't quite sure why. I thought it was different how they fit everything onto one long page.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteTwo very different scenarios are brought to the forefront in MBCBFTW: a man off at war and a woman back home. What we see is the connection (and disconnection) between the couple and the emotions they've each been feeling. Each wants different things, but at the same time that love for each other is still there. After all, how can it not be after being separated from someone for so long?
ReplyDeleteThe God Love Museum was incredibly heavy in terms of visuals, but it was definitely unique. The many icons and options allow for a variety actions to take place, even more than just the sideways scrolling (which is also unique and very fun).
I really enjoyed the interactive aspect of both sites. MBCBFTW is very classy, and very simple visually (but heavy in terms of content). The God Love Museum is much less classy, yet much simpler in terms of content. They're very different from each other, but also have their similarities (like being innovative in the sense that they're not just basic webpages with vertical scrolling and a traditional layout).
MBCBFTW was not what I expected it was going to be. It's definitely showing its age as it looks like a very basic example of html, but at the same time it's able to convey so many feelings. The low-quality images make it much more surreal and dream-like to me, and this adds to the experience as a lot of these thoughts are probably exactly that--thoughts, not reality.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to know what was supposed to be reality and what wasn't, but it's clear from what I saw the woman in this scenario was very anxious about who her boyfriend would be when he returned from the war. She was anxious that the killing would change him, and she very clearly didn't want that to happen but she didn't back down from the thought that she could help him.
Having this presented in a non-linear way helped the presentation because it suggested the woman's thoughts were very scattered and unorganized, which is common of someone filled with anxiety. Having it divide into more and more grids just showed that the thoughts were a maze of sorts. At the same time, the layout was very clean, and besides being divided into grids it was very easy to follow.
Many aspects of the Godlove Museum didn't work for me, but from what I saw it was a very abstract and strange piece of work. At many times I felt very uncomfortable because parts of it felt very creepy. In some ways this felt like even more of a maze than the other website.
I had to go through MBCBFTW many times to understand what was happening, who was talking, the situation, and the emotions that were being expressed. After going through it several times, I think the story is about a distance hindering a connection between a couple, causing them to lose love for each other. They try to forget about everything that happens up until that moment and go back in time where they were in love. The story shows young love and how it isn’t always as strong as they think. It wasn’t strong enough to be tested by time and distance.
ReplyDeleteThe God Love Museum challenged the layout expectations because you scroll right instead of down like usual. There was so much going on and to look at. It was almost hard to decide where to look first. I haven’t seen anything like MBCBFTW. It interactively told a story with the viewer. They both tell a story in interactive ways, creating different ways to interpret it.
These were released when the internet was new and used primarily for information and data. Some people might’ve seen this as amazing and very advanced. It could’ve been confusing for some people. Other people might’ve thought it was pointless and a waste of the internet.
To me, MBCBFTW was about showing the many challenges of dating someone who is part of a war. There are challenges the narrator faces within herself, but also challenges she faces due to her boyfriend being away, and then coming back a changed man. I can't imagine how groundbreaking it must have felt to see this site in the early stages of the internet-- it uses gifs and everything!
ReplyDeleteThe Godlove Museum was a little challenging to navigate, but the layout was interesting. It was also a little creepy, with the heavy and red graphics. At points I wasn't sure how to navigate the site, but with a little playing around I figured it out.
I'm sure this site was also revered as groundbreaking when it came out, but probably in a different way-- probably in a way that was a little less appreciated, I'd say, since it is so out there.
I think MBCBFTW is about a relationship between a woman, and a man in the war. Their long distance relationship was hard to maintain and she cheated on him with their neighbor. She begs for forgiveness and she says she wants to marry him, but really she thinks that nobody sees her for her. These pieces challenge web design and linear narrative because they dont have to be clicked completely in order and it leads to multiple new pages that each say something new. The text was hidden until you clicked on the pictures, just like her situation. It makes the story more interesting and triggering rather than just reading the text on the page. I think in very early years of the internet people were probably really shocked and maybe not supportive of something they didnt know much about (Web Design).
ReplyDeleteI really like the eerie vibes MBCBFTW gave off, I also like the handmade aspect in a digital form. The artwork reminds me of classic printmaking. I found MBCBFTW to be a lot easier to navigate than the God Love Museum. The God Love Museum leads you down a chaotic rabbit hole of odd links that remind me of geo sites, whereas MBCBFTW is a lot more interactive and seems to have a storyline about love, connection, loss, and powerful emotions. I love the funky graphics and gifs that are plastered all over the pages in strange areas. Honestly I don't think avid users in the early days of the internet would have been shocked by these pages, especially the God Love Museum, because of how much they reflect geo sites. When music started to automatically play on some of the sites I was instantly reminded of my middle school days on Myspace and Tumblr when everyone was obsessed with weird layouts and automatic playlists that were hidden haha. I think both of these sites challenge modern day expectations for design especially when you think about the lucrative business of website design/templates available like Wix. But personally I find them to be very pleasing and freeing and with all their other messages/intentions aside are an ideal version/image of what the internet was made to be: artistic, creative, free, liberating, expressive, connecting and more.
ReplyDeleteTo me, MBCBFTW seemed like a broken, dissonant conversation between a couple of which one has gone off to war and the other has remained behind. It seems like an argument over cheating and harsh feelings overs the circumstances around them being parted. Then theres the desperate attempt at reconciliation. The format of the site I think pushed the dissonance of the experience, how time apart has disrupted their ability to effectively communicate. As for the Godlove Museum, it was really interesting and unconventional in it's layout, scrolling sideways and a very cluttered, non-linear layout. Of course I liked the part where the bee follows the cursor. I think that because of the time of their release, the artistic and aesthetic appeal were unusual online, but also we weren't quite so set in all these rules and conventions of making sites to be viewed comfortably.
ReplyDeleteTo me, My Boyfriend Came Back from the War (MBCBFTW) was about a couple going through a rough time in their relationship. It seems like the war has yielded a disconnect physically and emotionally between the two. It's obvious the two are not on the same page as they both want different things, however, they seem to be trying to reconcile their behaviors in order to save their relationship in the end.
ReplyDeleteThis piece, while certainly out of date now, must've pushed the boundaries when it comes to web design when first released in 1996. I'm sure people were awestruck at how they even coded any of it. MBCBFTW also challenged linear storytelling. I found it difficult to follow but I believe this is the artist's intention as they were trying to show the disconnect between the couple. I bet people back in 1996 were just as confused as I was.
From John M:
ReplyDeletePrompt One:
My Boyfriend Came Back from the War seems to be a story about a conversation two people had after dinner. There was some sort of conflict, seemingly about some guy who was a neighbor to the girl. Something was mentioned about the boyfriend changing during the war. In the end, the two decided to get married.
The Godlove Museum wouldn't work on any browser that I tried, but I did manage to get to a page with an airplane flying over, and a page with two human figures who followed my mouse before the site crashed. To be honest, I was very confused by it, because it doesn't seem to have any relation to the books of the Bible that it mentioned. But it was interesting from what I could see.
I'm not sure exactly how these sites were coded, but MBCBFTW was really neat, with all the divisions that would appear from clicking on things. They both definitely challenge linear web design, although I'm still slightly confused about both of them. These are two really interesting and unique websites though, and it would be so cool to see them years ago when they were first released. I didn't know you could do some of those things on an internet browser.
John Marsolek
My Boyfriend Came Back from the war is a pretty crazy story that I had to go through a couple times to really get and honestly I'm still not sure if I completely get it. I generally am a fan of non linear storytelling, I think it can be really effective when done well, but I'm just not sure I enjoyed this story all that much. Parts of it were just really confusing and I was guessing and assuming what was happening for most of it. Maybe it was supposed to be confusing to show how stressful it can be to come back from a war, but I just thought it made it frustrating to try to understand.
ReplyDeleteThe Godlove museum is even more bizarre. There is just a lot going on throughout the whole page. The site seems to scroll through various books of the bible and has a lot of links to various different sites. This definitely seems like an old page with how cluttered and chaotic the whole site is.
MBCBFTW was initially a confusing site and had a really weird story that took me several separate play throughs in order to figure out. In the end it turned out to be a touching story about dating someone who served in the army and having to watch them change because of it. The Godlove Museum is a far more random and confusing site. In the end i could not figure out for the life of me what exactly the narrative that was being told was. All I knew for sure was that it had a religious theme due to all the religious imagery that was scattered throughout the site. Considering that both of these sites were created near the beginning of the internet they are very well made.
ReplyDelete