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22.
INVASION OF THE BODY
The pairing of body art with
the networked world might at first seem counter-intuitive; leather-clad
bikers and hardcore rock stars are the proverbial human canvases
for flaming skulls or bleeding daggers. Yet more and more gutsy
geeks with a sincere devotion to gaming are turning to tattoo
parlors, non-digital sites of modification, for a physical upgrade.
This is William
Gibson's fantasy of meatless subjects overturned. Avatars
may be injected into the dermis through electrically-powered needles,
and thus incorporated into the material world via the branding
interface. From software to human hardware, favourite characters
are brought to life on flesh, merging formerly discrete identities
into a single, schizophrenic self. In addition, a penchant for
the preservation of earlier, 8-bit creatures (such as those from
The Legend of Zelda or Super Mario Bros.) calls
attention to the nostalgic motivation behind the act. This generation
of gamers which spent its formative years in the care of an interactive
surrogate, now seeks to embed in its skin a collective gaming
memory. The crimson heart showcasing affection for "MOM"
has become obsolete; the old Atari logo is now worn with familial
pride by players everywhere. Until further progress is made in
the realms of virtual reality and 3-D design, perhaps the tattoo
gun serves as a secondary agent of immersion, one that delivers
pigments of the imagination at up to 3000 pricks a minute. As
things stand, gamers must play on, content with sporting digital
incarnates on their sleeves.
SLIDESHOW
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