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Hacking Systems: More Primitive than a Game

4/13/2024, 2:29:16 PM | Jeanyoon Choi

Original Notes (Pre-LLM)

Ian Cheng - White Stone Exhibition in Seoul… Bad… Very Bad quality, it tries to convey storytelling and let people enter a ‘World-Watching Mode’, but because the world itself is so amateur-fully constructed, nobody can really resonate with the story itself. Audiences can interact with the world by 1) Touching, 2) Tapping, 3) Pinching on the world → This Touch accordingly selects an object from the world, Pinch Rotates on top of the object, and generates a simple sound effect accordingly… What interested me was not the story itself, it was more of an interaction → Not the interaction for the sake of getting information, but interaction to enjoy the chaotically real-time changing audio-visuals. For instance, if I click once, then that’s bullshit information displayed… So boring… But If I tap and pinch continuously, the new sound layer is generated and a chaotic transition of visual layers is triggered…. And if I repeat, it gets more playful! Suddenly and finally it becomes playful! Also the same for the moving image going back/forth option, If I keep on clicking the move towards 10s/backward 10s button, the chaotic audio-visual transformation is triggered in a very joyful, dada-istic way!

Here is the formula: There is an existing (Logical System), and an existing (Logical way of interacting with the system). But if I interact it very often/play with it/just dadaistically click on it, just as if I’m playing the game, then the joyful dimension happens, then the illogical dimension arises! Hack the system!

(Logical Interaction) X (100 Taps/second) = (Illogical Interaction)

Same for my portfolio Entrance… Clicking on ‘Enter’ was a logical interaction, but once you need to do it 20 times then it’s an illogical, joyful interaction

Same for Ω… Doing ‘MBTI Test’ was a logical interaction, but once you scroll through the whole page to get the option you want, it’s an illogical, joyful interaction

Same for Das Gerede Part II…. The ongoing conversation between ChatGPTs might be logical, but once you use your facial expression to distort it, it starts to become illogical/distorts

Same for the Quantum Dream… The original video was quite logical/predictable, but the endless repetition/distortion/quantisation of its temporal dimension is illogical

Yes, you might have predicted → The structure is quite similar to the accelerationism at the same time.

Thus it’s more than a game. It’s going through the primitive reason why we’re playing the game. It’s our primitive nature to hack the system, to play with the system… Remember that stupid person in Venice Archi Biennale who prevented from interacting playfully? I bet that audiences might have enjoyed a lot more if the system was designed to interact so → playfully tapping a lot in a short time, than the way it was → Stupid content displayed in a stupidly slowing speed.

Thus, going more primitive than a game → Dadaistically Tap, Scroll, Pinch, Play, and Repeat!

HACKING SYSTEM --> HACKING ESTABLISHED INTERACTIVE SYSTEM --> HACKING ESTABLISHED INTERACTIVE SYSTEM WITH A PLAYFUL WAY --> HACKING ESTABLISHED INTERACTIVE SYSTEM WITH A PLAYFUL WAY IN A DADAISTIC WAY

PS. Smart Sound Design is necessary to make this interactive hacking playful

English Version (LLM-Generated)

Ian Cheng's "White Stone Exhibition" in Seoul was an underwhelming experience for me. Its intention to immerse audiences in an interactive storyline - a 'world-watching mode' - fell short due to the poorly constructed realm itself. The crux of the interactivity lies in touching, tapping, and pinching virtual objects, producing rudimentary sound effects. However, the narrative didn't hold my interest; instead, it was the participatory elements that caught my attention. The goal wasn't to extract information from these interactions, but to delight in the real-time evolving audio-visual spectacle.

Clicking objects once revealed uninspiring details, but repeatedly tapping and pinching ignited layers of sound and triggered dynamic visual transitions. Continued interaction led to an engaging, playful experience. Thus, the interactive moving image, the ability to advance or rewind by 10 seconds, when played with in a non-conventional manner, led to a chaotic, Dada-esque shift in audio-visual presentation.

This formula of interaction echoes in my portfolio - an action as straightforward as 'Enter' becomes a subversion when performed twenty times over. The same is applicable to taking the 'MBTI Test', scrolling through entire pages to make a selection, or engaging in an ongoing conversation with ChatGPTs - normal when performed once, but when the interactions are taken to extremes, they transition from logical to unexpected, injecting an element of joy in the process.

Similar to the tenets of accelerationism, to deviate from the typical interactions to frequent, playful ones is when the joyful, unpredictable layers emerge. This manipulation of systems - bending them to unexpected results - arguably could be traced to our inherent tendencies. Whether it's tapping a lot in a short time or mind-numbing content displayed at a slow pace, the experience would have been heightened if designed with playful interactions in mind.

The ultimate takeaway is a showcase of the potential of interventions, the power of playful manipulations, and how they can reshape established interactive systems. This practice is tantamount to hacking established, predictable systems and making them yield instinctively enjoyable results. A thoughtful sound design is crucial to this participatory hacking and lends itself to a more immersive and enjoyable experience.

Korean Version (LLM-Generated)

서울에서 열린 이안 청의 '화이트 스톤 전'… 참으로 별로였습니다. 스토리텔링을 전달하고 사람들을 ‘세상 관찰 모드’로 들어가게 하려하지만, 세계 자체가 너무 아마추어스럽게 구성되어 있어 아무도 이야기에 진정으로 공감할 수 없습니다. 관객들은 1) 터치하거나, 2) 탭하거나, 3) 핀치로 세계와 상호작용할 수 있습니다 → 이때 터치는 세계에서 물체를 선택하며, 핀치는 물체 위를 회전시키고, 간단한 사운드 효과를 생성합니다. 나를 끌었던 것은 이야기 자체가 아니라 상호작용, 정보를 얻기 위한 상호작용이 아니라 혼란스럽게 실시간으로 바뀌는 시각-청각적 요소를 즐기기 위한 상호작용이었습니다. 예를 들어, 한 번 클릭하면 지루한 정보만 표시되는데, 계속 탭하고 핀치하면 새로운 사운드 계층이 생성되고 시각적 레이어들이 혼란스럽게 전환됩니다. 이것을 반복하면 더욱 재미있어집니다! 갑자기 재미있어지게 됩니다!

이것은 게임을 넘어서는 것입니다. 우리가 왜 게임을 하는지에 대한 근본적인 이유를 탐구하는 것입니다. 시스템을 해킹하고, 시스템과 놀고 싶은 우리의 본질적 본능입니다. 베니스 아키텍처 비엔날레에서 놀기를 방해한 그 바보 같은 사람을 기억하세요? 시스템이 이렇게 상호작용하도록 설계되었다면 관객들이 훨씬 더 즐길 수 있었을 것입니다 → 짧은 시간 안에 많이 탭하고 놀기보다, 지루하게 느리게 진행되는 이상한 컨텐츠.

따라서 게임보다 더 원시적으로 → 대담하게 탭하고, 스크롤하고, 핀치하고, 플레이하고, 반복하세요!

시스템 해킹 - established 된 상호작용 시스템 해킹 - 대담하게 노는 방식으로 해킹하는 established 된 상호작용 시스템 - 대담하게 노는 방식으로 해킹하는 established 된 상호작용 시스템을 반복해서 놀려보세요!

PS. 이 상호작용적 해킹을 재미있게 만들려면 스마트 사운드 디자인이 필요합니다.