refuge, the idealised bush. T h e k i d goes to s c h o o l , but w h a t does m u m k n o w a b o u t w h a t h a p p e n s t h e r e — " n o t m u c h " ( k i d , s c e n e 1 , k i t c h e n ) . W h i l e Destiny's home video might be about v ic t ims of ins t i tu t ion­alised racism — " I love the grog, yeah espe­c i a l l y o n days l i k e t h i s " ( m u m , s c e n e 2, pub) , the vict imisers are described by the i r absence. " I ' d l ike my m u m to be able come and l ive here" ( k i d , scene 3, refuge), mate­r ia l goods come w i t h a pr ice — separa t ion from family.

T h e way cut is to get some cash, take to the bush, and l ive i n a house boat, w h i c h is also a metaphor for m a i n t a i n i n g m o b i l i t y a n d a r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h the l a n d . T h e s e e l e m e n t s are not i m m e d i a t e l y a p p a r e n t . T h e confront ing aspects to Deacon ' s w o r k w h i c h deconstruct a n d r e c l a i m mythology are l ike the p r o v e r b i a l dropping p e n n y — w i t h the kangaroo o n one side a n d Q u e e -n ie on the other.

I n the photo essay Chuck A Zulu b laks m i m i c blacks. T h e Zulus have become part of our l ives through apar the id and i n t e r n a ­t i o n a l sanct ions . M a n d e l a is P r i m e M i n i s ­ter of S o u t h A f r i c a — i n our t ime. Chuck A Zulu is a cute parade, but c a n also be read as a c a l l to defiance, as suppon for c o n t i n u ­i n g t h e waves of A b o r i g i n a l res i s tance — c h u c k a f r u i t y , c h u c k a z u l u . D e s t i n y D e a ­c o n ' s a r t i n t e r v e n e s ( i n a l l t h e r i g h t p laces ) , humours , resists , celebrates , m i m ­ics, makes c u l t u r a l a m b i g u i t y less opaque and al lows the gap to sl ide.

Cecelia Cmielewski

titis

1 K e r r y G i l e s , opening talk, Dest iny D e a ­c o n , M y boomerang won't come back, 1994.

2 D e s t i n y D e a c o n , s p e a k i n g at t h e l a u n c h of the T u d a w a l i A w a r d , Artists W^eek, Adelaide 1994

3 M a r c i a L a n g t o n , " . . . / heard it on the radio, and I saw it on the television., A u s t r a l i a n F i l m C o m m i s s i o n , S y d n e y , 1993.

V N S M a t r i x , Splatter Sim. f r o m e f r o m . All New Gen, i n t e r o c f i n , 1 9 9 3 . Phoro c o u r t e s y o r t i s t i .

All H B U I Gen

[ x p e r i i n e n f a i A r t F o u n d d f i o i i O c t - M o u - I H ]

Tfieir surveillance narratives grew so dense it was impossible to know who was in control.'

At this year's Artists Week i n A d e l a i d e ,

V i r g i n i a Barrat t , one of the co-gener­

a t o r s o f V N S M a t r i x , w a s a p a n e l

m e m b e r at o n e of t h e F e s t i v a l F o r u m s .

W i t h h e r o n the pane l was P e n n y A r c a d e ,

p e r f o r m e r of B i t c h , Dyke, Faghag, W h o r e

a n d A b o r i g i n a l a r t i s t H e a t h e r S h e a r e r .

T h e i r t o p i c was the r e l e v a n c e o f g e n d e r

issues to t h e i r w o r k . For S h e a r e r , t h i s was

n o t a n i s s u e . F o r S u s a n n a V e n t u r a

( A r c a d e ) , her message also was a supposed­

ly g e n d e r - n e u t r a l or g e n d e r - e q u a l l i b e r a -

t i o n i s t o n e . I t was B a r r a t t w h o d r e w t h e

a n i m u s of the audience ( a n d of V e n t u r a ) ,

w i t h her techno-message and technospeak.

though she expla ined her terms lucidly and pointed out also that she was self-taught i n the area rather than a highfalutin academic.

T h e o c c a s i o n i n d i c a t e d p l a i n l y t h a t Barrat t seemed, to this audience, to be both d a n g e r o u s , i n s o m e w a y , a n d h u b r i s t i c . H u b r i s resided i n w h a t the audience regis­tered as exclusionary language. For Barrat t , c o r p o r e a l i t y is h e r c e n t r a l t ex t i n a m u c h more c h a l l e n g i n g way t h a n it is for V e n t u ­r a , w h o s e l i b e r a t i o n i s t s t a n c e is e a s i l y i n c o r p o r a t e d i n t o c o n s e r v a t i v e agendas. V e n t u r a ' s ma jor quarre l is w i t h ' sevent ies a c a d e m i c f e m i n i s m ' , a j u d i c i o u s a p p l i c a ­t ion of w h i c h could strengthen many of her w o b b l y p o s i t i o n s o n m a t t e r s s u c h as pornography. Barrat t was perceived as per­v e r s e l y d i f f i c u l t a n d h e r p r e o c c u p a t i o n s

phtifile firtii-ttio 4 3

m a r g i n a l to the ' rea l l i fe ' issues repre­sented by her co-panellists.

B a r r a t t was e n c o u n t e r i n g r e s i s ­tance o n the very grounds that she and her fellow Matr ic is ts are at tempting to use the language and tools of the male field of high-technology, al though this pro jec t is c o n c e p t u a l l y more d i s r u p ­t ive/subversive i n feminist terms, cer­tainly, than Ventura's .

V N S M a t r i x — Barrat t , F r a n c e s c a da R i m i n i , J u l i a n n e P i e r c e a n d Josephine Starrs , make a game — l i ter ­a l ly — out of m o v i n g i n o n the w o r l d of t e c h n o l o g y a n d t h e w o r d o f t h e Father. T h i s lightness of touch is prob­ably w h a t needs to be a c k n o w l e d g e d f i r s t , b e f o r e d i v i n g i n t o a n a l y t i c a l depths. "Loosen up, dude" is R u l e O n e of the game. " I ' m p s y c h i n g for some h a r d d o w n - t i m e w i t h a free r a d i c a l " , r u n s a t y p i c a l s n a t c h o f t h e a u d i o accompaniment to the slides mounted i n l i g h t - b o x e s w h i c h f o r m p a r t o f t h e g a l l e r y i n s t a l l a t i o n . I t may be crue t h a t video games are the new arena for the ado­lescent male's imaging of the h u m i l i a t i o n of the female (Super Mario, Sonic Hedgehog), but V N S M a t r i x , w h i l e contest ing that ter­r i t o r y , keep t h e i r a t t e n t i o n f i x e d o n t h e possibilities of the ludic.

H a v i n g pos i t ioned themse lves b o t h i n jest and i n fac t i n the D a d d y - r u l e d M a i n ­frame ( B D M ) , they are w e l l situated to take on their allotted task, as elaborated i n A Cyber Feminist Manifesto for the 21st Century-^.

I n a d d i t i o n to the H i g h Ser iousness of t h a t m i s s i o n , t h e y a l so s i d e - s w i p e s o m e earnest women's cyber-fictions, spawning at a great rate.

T h e i r game-plan ( i n the double sense of b e i n g p l a y as w e l l as e a r n e s t ) , is w i s e i n many ways, not least being lack of access to f u n d i n g and resources such as m i g h t make p o s s i b l e a g e n u i n e t e c h n o - b a t t l e w i t h expens ive c o m p u t e r - i m a g i n g a n d process­ing equipment . A s it is, V N S M a t r i x would hardly c l a i m to have appropriated the most sophist icated of B D M ' s techno-tools ; the ir i n f i l t r a t i o n strategy i n the gal lery c o n t e x t

i n f a c t m a k e s use of v e r y f a m i l i a r p h o t o -i m a g i n g t e c h n i q u e s , o f a s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d video of two real ( though both female) bod­ies, and of a mini -game w h i c h can be played o n t h e c o m p u t e r but h a r d l y of fers Super-M a r i a complexi t ies .

W h a t n e e d s to be n o t i c e d a b o u t t h e G a m e g i r l s t h e m s e l v e s i n the c o m p u t e r -game a n d the s t i l l s is prec ise ly t h e i r unso­p h i s t i c a t e d m o d e l l i n g ; they are r e - c r a f t e d Barbie dolls w i t h highly visible, emblematic g e n i t a l s . T h e i r f emale e q u i p m e n t is g l o r i ­f i e d ( v a g i n a l r a y s b e a m i n g f r o m b e t w e e n s t r a d d l e d , i m p o s s i b l y l o n g l e g s ) by t h e p o w e r o f c a r i c a t u r e a n d r e v e r s a l — a n a l w a y s - p o t e n t f e m i n i s t tool , w h i l e C i r c u i t Boy , model led as a headless and limbless s i l ­ver beefcake-torso w i t h enormous phal lus is characterised as 'a dangerous technobimbo' .

T h r o u g h the pr inted word it is possible, i n the economic sense, to play a m u c h more t h o r o u g h b e a t - t h e m - a t - t h e i r - o w n - g a m e . V N S , o f course , are c o m m i t t e d to w e d d e d t e x t - a n d - i m a g e , but the gains may n o t be d e c i s i v e . I n c r e a s i n g r e p r e s e n t a t i o n a l s o p h i s t i c a t i o n is one of the problems V N S M a t r i x w i l l face i n c o n t i n u i n g t h i s game.

M y fee l ing is that , c u r r e n t l y , the text is the most m u l t i l a y e r e d a n d c l e v e r face t of A l l N e w G e n , and that the images, s t i l l or mov­ing o n the c o m p u t e r - s c r e e n , w i l l h a v e less" l o n g e v i t y . B a r r a t t i n p a r t i c u l a r has specia l a c u m e n a n d i n t i m a c y r e g a r d i n g both the operat ional m e c h a n i c s a n d c u l t u r a l r a m i f i ­cat ions of new r e p r e s e n t a t i o n a l technolo­gies, but her f u t u r e t a m p e r i n g s w i t h B D M w o u l d n e e d s e r i o u s r e s o u r c i n g f r o m B i g Daddy's government .

It may be that e v e n as I type this on my computer-screen, the G a m e g i r l s are mutat­ing in to new a n d i rres is t ib le cyber- forms. 1 hope so.

Cath Kenneally

notBS

1 V N S M a t r i x , A l l New G e n , art ist state­ment, E A F , A d e l a i d e , 1993.

2 V N S M a t r i x , Introduction to VNS Matr ix & A l l N e u - G e n , 1 9 9 2 . P O B o x 1 0 8 5 Potts Point , 2 0 1 1 .

4 4 pliolofile fortij-two