Crying man 4

This research, a collaboration with Sydney interactivity researcher Kate Richards, addresses the issue of emotion in Western culture. Jones proposes the question: is it possible to create images of men crying openly such that this act becomes socially viable? By extension the work is also directly asking if art has a social function. This research also challenges some well-used ideas about the purpose and veracity of interactivity, immersiveness and site specificity which are all used extensively to justify international research in new media art works. In 'Crying Man 4', the numbers of men crying on large 'floating' screens is multiplied by the interaction between the screens. Interactivity is not technological but constituted through the viewer's decision to attend closely to one screen or move between them. Immersiveness here occurs through scale, hyper-reality of the images, darkness and sound volume. This research formed a reminder of the central importance of immersiveness by these filmic means at a time when media convergence is shrinking the image size. This issue arose strongly from earlier research that appeared as 'Crying Man 1 '(2003).The work received an Australia Council Development Grant and a 4 week residency from Artspace in Sydney (where it was exhibited) in recognition of its cultural importance. It was reviewed by Angeloro, Dominique: Lights, Camera, Onions SMH Feb18-24, 2005 and discussed in Artspace Projects 2005 catalogue/book, (ed) Reuben Keehan. In 2005 this provided the basis for an invited solo presentation at the National Gallery of Australia: Viola by Night 2 and a Keynote Address On the Use of the Colour Black at the Film and Memorialisation Conference, in Schwaebisch Hall, Germany in 2006.本研究与悉尼互动研究学者凯特·理查兹（Kate Richards）合作开展，聚焦西方文化中的情感议题。琼斯提出了这样一个核心问题：能否创作男性公开哭泣的影像，令这一行为获得社会合法性？进而，该作品也直接探讨了艺术是否具备社会功能这一命题。本研究同时对一些被广泛用于佐证新媒体艺术国际研究的核心观点提出了质疑，这些观点涉及互动性、沉浸性与场域特定性（site specificity）的本质与真实性。在作品《哭泣的男人4》（Crying Man 4）中，大型“悬浮”屏幕上的男性哭泣影像数量，会因屏幕间的互动关系而倍增。此处的互动并非依托技术手段，而是由观者自主选择专注某一块屏幕，或是在屏幕间移动的行为所构建。本作品的沉浸性通过影像尺度、图像的超真实质感、空间昏暗度与音量大小得以实现。在媒体融合正不断压缩影像尺寸的当下，本研究再次提醒人们：这类影像化手段所带来的沉浸性，依然占据核心地位。这一议题的提出，源于2003年问世的早期研究作品《哭泣的男人1》（Crying Man 1）。该作品因其文化价值，获得了澳大利亚艺术委员会发展资助，以及悉尼艺术空间（Artspace）为期四周的驻留创作资格，作品亦在此展出。该作品曾由多米尼克·安杰洛罗（Dominique Angeloro）在《悉尼先驱晨报》（SMH）2005年2月18-24日刊的《灯光、镜头、洋葱》（Lights, Camera, Onions）专栏中进行评论，并在由鲁本·基恩（Reuben Keehan）编纂的《2005年艺术空间项目》（Artspace Projects 2005）画册/书籍中被探讨。2005年，该研究成果成为受邀在澳大利亚国家美术馆举办的个展《深夜维奥拉2》（Viola by Night 2）的创作基础；2006年，其相关内容又作为主题演讲，被用于德国施瓦本哈尔（Schwaebisch Hall）举办的“电影与纪念大会”上的《黑色的运用》主题报告。