Avatar

Part of a series I seem to be doing about masculinity in contemporary society.

Avatar is inspired by gaming culture and the rise of VR as a replacement for traditional rites of passage in society. I find the concept of avatars intriguing – wearing a new identity in order to experience a different reality. It’s simultaneously an opportunity for growth of consciousness through loss of Self and yet also a denial of the limitations of our physical Self in the ‘real’ world.

Is experience gained via Virtual Reality any less meaningful than the experience gained in the ‘real’ world? Does not consciousness experience it as the same? I began with an expression of anguish which in the end became an empty space – a space that represents both potential and loss.

I see the bindings on his wrists as self-created virtual representations of limitations experienced psychologically in the real world. Will this Player be able to free himself to become his true self?