Title/Date: Master Hands (2020).

Author(s): Sophie Reid-Singer (clunkk).

Place of Publication: Frequencies TV (Brisbane).

Format: Real-time glitch projection performance 3 hours.

Master Hands (2020) is a projection artwork which reused the hand assets from the The Cat Eats… (2020) and continued the aesthetic presentation of Dusty Dogs (2019). The feature of this performance was the soundscape orchestrated between Moscos, and my previous collaborators Unregistered Builder and DJ Boom Boom Bean Selecta. The interpretative performance went for 3 hours and was once again live-streamed from Frequencies TV Studio (Brisbane). The aim of this performance was to share in the communal activity of making, celebrating our diversity and what each artist bought to the table. I performed alongside everyone using a Microsoft Xbox 360 Controller rigged with the animations I had previously created.

Below is footage of the performance.

Findings

TLDR: in this artwork mine and the machine held hands cybernetically.

Imagery of cyborgs in this videogame did not emancipate disabled peoples from the strict legal conditions imposed by the Australian Government.

However in this artwork I developed number of new skills for glitching a 3D model and expanded on my TAA glitch (seen as a purple stippling effect). I re-rigged the 3D models incorrectly on purpose, which made them stretch unconventionally (gooey). I optimized my FFT strategy in preparation for this event, getting the latency issue between imagery and audio that had created a disconnect in previous artworks for this project to a comfortable hair-breadth.

Side Note

Originally the design of these hands were inspired by the ‘Master Hand’ from the 1999 Nintendo 64 cult-classic Super Smash Bros. The Master Hand, a large disembodied right hand, is the final boss of that platformer brawler, encountered in the last stage of the arcade story. Little information exists to characterize the Master Hand, but it is generally accepted [he] is male and the creator of the Super Smash Bros. universe. In my parody Master Hands, both hands–which are inverted from white gloves to black–are non-binary and engage in a dance-battle with the viewing audience.