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Almost as soon as they begin dancing again the plain disappears. The
Thing and the user fall helplessly into a new environment.
(In the picture on the left the Thing is now purple and yellow - a color
change designed to make it stand out more.)
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The new environment is red and claustrophobic dotted with
strange menhirs. Four beings similar to the Thing but differently colored
advance. They greet the Thing, calling him "cousin", and welcome
the user.
They ask the two to come with them and promise treats, but the Thing
is terrified, cowering at the user's feet.
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The ideal user cautiously trusts the Thing's cousins, and
goes along with them. But suddenly she is caught up into the air in a small
cage.
She watches from above as the cousins round on the Thing. They accuse
it of disgusting behavior that defiles all Thing-kind. It has entered a
relationship with a meat object - the user!
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The cousins beat the Thing severely, then throw it up into
the cage and exit mouthing dark threats. The Thing is crying and hurt.
It apologises to the user but then reveals it has a contigency plan. It
has concealed a weapon. |
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The Thing pops a gun out of an orifice and instructs the user to pick
it up and blast them out of the cage. As they hit the ground the four cousins
reappear, and the Thing encourages the user to shoot them also.
Then comes a moment when all the cousins are dead or escaped and the
Thing stands in front of the user and the gun. Suddenly it fears that the
user will shoot it too!
Everything depends on the user's feelings for the Thing. And by this
point the ideal user is ambivalent. In act three she and the Thing have
been thrust into danger and onto the same side. They have mutually helped
each other. But she can also remember the Thing's bullying ways.
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The moment of decision is both the ending and begining. The piece is
designed to be circular.
If the user doesn't shoot - she is returned to the welcoming Thing,
who now assumes that she is ready and willing to dance the dance forever.
If she shoots, she is returned to the beginning, the voice over tells
her she can go to the shed and release the Thing or remain on the plain
alone, forever.
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The Thing Growing is an exploration of the mis-use of power and love
in relationships, and of our ability to repeat disfunctional relationships
trying to "master" them.
My hope is that the virtual environment works on two levels - drawing
the user into an actual emotional engagement in the melodrama; and promoting
a consciousness of how ridiculous and unwinnable this relationship is,
that will create the necessary distance for analysing emotional reactions.
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