“The Avatar Alert” by Étienne Armand Amato, Claire Sistach
Title:
- The Avatar Alert
Artist(s) and People Involved:
Exhibiting Artist(s):
Symposium:
Venue(s):
Artist Statement:
Symbiosis and Humanity(s) Exhibition, MSH Paris Nord, May 17- 27
The Avatar Alert of Etienne Armand Amato & Claire Sistach, ISEA2023 selected artists, occurs in the mild spring of 2023, in the middle of an Electronic Art Symposium, and among many other announcements of catastrophe, it attempts to confront humanity with its present and past choices concerning the virtual. Will the message find an echo? The diversity of possible futures is announced, with its nuances and its chasms. Which one will be made by humans, with the help of the clairvoyance of their digital partners, the avatars of yesterday, today and tomorrow.
In 2011, in full expansion of immersive worlds, the Avatar Society was founded, bringing hope and identity emancipation. She wants to promote symbiotic collaboration between digital avatars who deserve more fair consideration and humans whose role would be to take care of them and evolve together. In 2023, hitherto discreet, this organization is bringing out its reserve to alert humanity, because today our future is decisively at stake, while colossal ideological and economic forces are taking hold of the metaverse. According to its prospective studies, and thanks to mysterious “very well placed” informants, four more or less worrying or desirable futures are announced, which depend on our current choices. Taking advantage of ISEA2023, this avatar alert sheds light on the year 2056. Will we succeed in cultivating an alliance between humans and avatars or cannibalize each other? What role will AIs play? How to avoid a hopeless fascination?
