RealTime
issue 35, Feb 2000, Sydney, Australia
TIME TRAVEL IS YOUR ONLY MEANS OF ESCAPE
Joni Taylor
Rosalind Brodsky could very well be the alter ego of artist Suzanne
Treister who bears strange similarities to this time travelling scientist,
tracing her European Jewish ancestry while still engaging in a plethora of
eccentric occupations and activities. These change from psychoanalytical
sessions with deceased therapists to preparing traditional German dishes,
to performing in her psychedelic rock band, to developing a range of
designer vibrators. The recommended viewing time for this CD-ROM is
3 hours, the amount of time necessary to fully explore and participate in
her time travelling tales.
The date is 2058, the year of BrodskyÕs death and the setting is the
Institute of Militronics and Advanced Time Interventionality, where
Brodsky conducted her research and still lingers. The virtual space is
more digital collage than animation. Brightly coloured juxtapositions of
furniture, wall hangings and retro sci-fi machines. As in a computer
game simulation, you travel through the space by a few clicks of the
mouse. Like a virtual tour there are characteristics such as a map, a guide
and various info areas. Once in BrodskyÕs study you can time travel to
her home in Bavaria, modelled on Koningssschlos Neuschwanstein, the
original home of the ÒmadÓ King Ludwig, and more recently to neo-Nazi
squatters. There are also options to explore her diary, or go down a level
to the clinics where Brodsky regularly received counselling by Freud,
Jung, Klein, Lacan and Kristeva. Inside the institute you are informed
by the Introscan TV Corporation that a group of armed academics are
demonstrating outside, and time travel is the only means of escape. As in
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the closet leads on to
other destinations, not Narnia, but the very 20th century cultures of the
Russian Revolution, the Holocaust and swinging 60s London.
A quicktime movie shows a haunting dual image of the train tracks
leading to Auschwitz. A recurring theme is BrodskyÕs attempts to rescue
her grandparents from World War 2. She is the silver clad futuristic
time-traveller, superimposed over black and white footage of war-torn
Europe. At other times she is part of a Monty Python-esque collage,
posing next to key figures from cult films such as Norman Bates and
Mary Poppins. Also in the wardrobe are BrodskyÕs attache cases. In
order to fund her projects, Brodsky appears to have developed a range of
designer vibrators. These range from the architectural variety, such as
the Kremlin and the Òdouble sidedÓ London Bridge, to key political
figures like Marx and Lenin and pop culture icons Emma Peel and David
Bowie. By clicking on the speech bubble, each sex aid literally ÒspeaksÓ
for itself. Sexy science seems to be the name of the game and food is a
constant delight on the journey.
Some startling new developments have enabled the Nutragenetica
Corporation to begin harvesting chicken legs on human torsos, and
Brodsky, like any traditional Jewish hostess, seems right at home with
these new condiments. A TV in the bedroom plays snippets from her
cooking show, as well as the music videos Brodsky made with her
band, Rosalind Brodsky and the Satellites of Lvov. The remake of Lou
ReedÕs Satellite of Lvov is a trippy track involving sci-fi theremin
sounds and Glam rock beats. It regularly comes bleeping through the
castle corridors.
Travelling further, you become familiar with the interactive vocabulary
of BrodskyÕs creation. Big buttons need to be pushed, cursor ÒRÓ turns
to cursor ÒBÓ at select moments, rollovers light up and footstep sounds
signify youÕve arrived.
When the final destination is reachedÑ satellite probe (a Christo
wrapped Reichstag)Ñit appears that Brodsky in her old age transformed
most of her archival research into a painting game, a virtual kinetic
colouring-in book, where multiplying vibrators can be placed over
varying backgrounds, such as Mars and Shinjuiku, Tokyo. It gets more
bizarre as the final choice on the tour is to return to the Castle music
room, and play some more, or get dropped off in the Australian mining
town of Coober Pedy!
Despite the idea of transcending time, the work has a set narrative with
pre-determined choices and specific geographical locations that lead onto
the next stage. At one point, Brodsky describes herself as a Ònecrophiliac
invader of spaces containing the deaths of her ancestors, through the
privileged violence of technology.Ó Using this violence of technology,
Treister has enabled us to invade many facets of her anthropological
history. And what a ride it is.
No other symptoms: Time Travelling with Rosalind Brodsky, Suzanne
Treister, Black Dog Publishing Limited, UK. For more
information email info@bdp.demon.co.uk