Her first collaboration was inspired by the inmates of a prison, where Pullinger spent a year writing in the 1990′s. All the men held there, were serving life sentences, but one particular man’s story caught her attention. She called this piece, Branded. It is the story of an innocent man who was accused of murdering his girlfriend. The story is told using mainly text and sound, as the viewer navigates their way through. With it being her first digital interactive work, the visual elements are very simple, and therefore we rely mostly on the writing to tell the story, much like that of a book. She wants her visual stories to encourage reading. However, Branded was merely used as an introductory fragment of a later, and more evolved piece called The Breathing Wall. Pullinger believes that coming back to Branded, and constantly trying to find better ways to tell the story, is an important process, almost like the act of painting.

The Breathing Wall is a digital fiction that responds to the reader’s rate of breathing. It was designed for individual viewing in a relatively relaxed environment. The more relaxed the reader becomes, the deeper they enter into the piece. Like Branded, it tells the story of a girl communicating with her boyfriend through the wall of his prison cell. The story is told in parts, this time day-dreams and night dreams. The day-dreams use text, sound and images, through a linear multimedia narrative. The night dreams use sound and video. A microphone is used to measure the viewer’s breathing, in hopes to induce a meditative state in the reader, allowing them to enter the dream. It is clear that in this piece, Pullinger learned how to rely less on text, and create a balance between more than one sense, making The Breathing Wall even more interactive, and creating more depth to the story.

One of her later, and current projects, Inanimate Alice, is yet another experiment in digital fiction. It tells the story of a girl named Alice, growing up in the 21^st century. Interactivity now increases as the viewer navigates his/her way through several episodes of multimedia, with a combination of text, sound, image and games. Episodes also become more game-like, reflecting Alice’s own developing skills as a game designer and animator. I find this pretty ironic, as Alice’s character development reflects, almost exactly, that of Kate Pullinger’s artistic character.

go check it outHERE

the majority of the people there are super religious and stuck up and think its the work of the devil or something.

the first time we got chased down the street by dogs, and the second time my friends and i wrapped ourselves in toilet paper (i think we were trying to be mummies) and managed to get a little bit of candy from random people who probably felt sorry for us. I didnt even end up eating  the candy because the suspicious looks we got from people, almost 100% convinced me that someone tried to poison our candy. I know, paranoid! Then again who wouldnt be paranoid in that country? haha.. anyyyywayyyy i am amused by the hours and hours of work people put into carving pumpkins! some of them are pretty damn well done!

the street is FILLED with more and more homeless people every year, and crime has definitely increased.

i did some research on the annual costs the city budgets for the basic needs of its citizens.

is 2 billion dollars really neccissary to spend on the mere TEN days this city will boost its ego during the olympics? or should more money go into what we REALLY need? housing for the homeless, security, community services? etc etc….

VIEW MAP HERE

BOB ROSS IS A GOD!

seriously, hes so awesome! the dude was always in his own little world… haha…

my friend is dressing up as him for halloween. we bought a huge afro wig at the dollar store today…. prize winning outfit according to me!

and even though his paintings are totally cheesy, i still sit here, jealous as hell, because he makes painting look so simple! it literally takes him a half hour to do these crazy paintings based purely on his imagination…

if only it was that easy \

one thing im wondering about…. why do YOU guys think he never painted people?

I decided to photograph an alley nearby my old apartment. I passed it almost every day on my way to school, and i always looked at it and thought, “wow, i really want to photograph that sometime.” and so i finally did. The perspective and the lines are awesome. When people hear the word “alley”, the words ‘junkies’, ‘dirty’, ‘drugs’, ‘garbage’ and ‘graffiti’ come to mind. But to me, there is so much beauty to be discovered. So many stories to be told. So many hidden treasures.

Last night i went to see the local new wave band, Circlesquare, play a show at the media club. The genius behind this dark, downbeat electronica, Jeremy Shaw describes his sound as “inciting slow-motion riots in imaginary suburban landscapes where all the electric buses are white and a nation of detached romantics feel very much at home. Best heard from the floor”.

The slow, throbbing synth bass-lines, blended with snatches of guitar sounds and discordant beats, was synced with experimental video montages of urban landscapes to earthquakes to fist-fights.

Being a filmmaker, interested in experimental practices, this performance sure as hell had me hooked from start to finish. The pure beauty of each person’s individual experience watching the show, is amazing. This is why i love artists who leave a little room for imagination.