"Kryxiel"

ARTIST	Kinh-Luan Nguyen
YEAR	2011
MATERIAL	Costume, Live Actor, Video
DIMENSIONS	Varies - Television Dependent
LINK	Kryxiel - YouTube Video
DESCRIPTION	My completed project, titled Kryxiel, proved to be different than what I had originally thought of for the project proposal. Originally, I wanted to create an environment, using multiple green panels that reflected the in-game environment, so that the player would have a surreal setting while he/she played the game. However, after much thought, I realized that my focus for the project was less about the environment that the player engages in, and more about the experience that he/she has with the game. MORE... I decided to contact one of my close friends that plays the game World of Warcraft, W.O.W. for short, to ask him if he was willing to be my test subject for the project. Kris was ecstatic and more than willing to be a part of the project. After collecting various images of his W.O.W. avatar, I proceeded to design and create a replica of the armor and various body pieces of his character named Kryxiel. I decided to take the approach of having Kris dress up in the armor, and act out his character Kryxiel while being documented. Kris was now Kryxiel, warped away from his familiar 2-dimensional world, and into present day society. The camera becomes a peripheral eye for the audience, navigating them with Kryxiel as he engages and explores this strange new world. It is important to note that the camera views and angles, serves to replicate the view that a player would see if he/she were to play the game. The audience also hears Kryxiel's thoughts, which is echoed throughout the video as he narrates. In W.O.W., players have to participate in missions and quests, in order to gain more points, experience, levels, etc. Similarly, Kryxiel's main objective is to find a way out of the unknown, and somehow get back to his 2-dimensional home world. << BACK