Abstract
Marina Warner states that the concept of the zombie ‘embodies the condition of our time’ as it represents contemporary experiences of selfhood shaped by new technologies (2006: 357–8). In this paper I argue that, due to the interactive and immersive qualities of XR, the concept of the zombie in some recent Gothic expressions does not just represent contemporary experience of selfhood but is a development of an ‘interpassive’ role we play in everyday life (Pfaller 1996; Žižek 2008). Interpassivity is seen to be the ‘underside’ to interactivity, degrading any authentic experience or contribution of the individual. In some cases, the interpassive role in Gothic participatory experiences can be seen to be a cathartic extension of this everyday interpassive experience. However, the addition of a sadistic element to this role can lead to a ‘zombie-participant’ experience, which is a perverse and Gothic resistance to interpassivity. The paper focuses on two XR events that strive to reclaim the authentic self in what can be interpreted as a plight to recover the authenticity of individual experience within the closed loop of XR experience. The first is Whist (2017) by AΦE, where there is an attempt to reify the self through the trigger of the participant’s gaze. This results in an interpassive experience that demotes agency: rather than interpret the self, Freudian discourse is seen to ‘stand in’ for it, thus reflecting an interpassive state. The second is Doom Room (2018) by Makropol, where there is an attempt to reclaim the soul through re-birth via self-sacrifice. ‘Doom Room’ entwines the story of interpassivity with a sadistic interactive design, resulting in a destabilisation of ‘self’ that ultimately resists the interpassive experience.
Highlights
In the entertainment industry immersive interactive ‘scream’ experiences where audiences are locked in rooms, herded around haunted houses, dungeons, mazes or forests are highly popular and in abundance
O’Brien: Playing the Zombie with other, more experimental approaches to the Gothic, in VR and, more broadly, XR performance where physical realities work alongside the virtual to produce horrifying effects. In these performances the subject position through which we engage with the work radically opposes the kinds often promoted by most liberally orientated participatory art
The lack of audience agency and co-authorship within these experiences is probably the reason that the more experimental approaches to the Gothic get conflated with practices that are seen under the umbrella of light entertainment
Summary
In the entertainment industry immersive interactive ‘scream’ experiences where audiences are locked in rooms, herded around haunted houses, dungeons, mazes or forests are highly popular and in abundance. As well as outlining this resistance, Bishop recalls the pleasure that interpassivity can have for those who engage in this way, and this pleasure is a little different to the one described by Pfaller She refers to Pierre Klossowski’s thesis (1970) that argues there is a ‘mutual imbrication of the economy and pleasure’ and delegated performance places the artist in a ‘Sadean position, exploiting because s/he knows from experience that this exploitation and self-display can itself be a form of pleasure’ (ibid, 233–236). When there is a sadistic relation between the designer and participant, this can position the participant as ‘slave’ to the ‘master’ designer This means that sadism in participatory and interactive art and games makes for a particular kind of interpassive experience that needs further exploration within the Gothic genre before we can understand whether such position can reify or resist the interpassive subject within consumer culture. In Gothic XR, this is where the zombie form meets Gothic content most completely
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