Madoc: A Mystery (Retinograph) | Database of Machine Vision in Art, Games and Narratives

Brief description

The main character South (referring to Southey) is caught breaking into a futuristic corporation called Unitel, and is harnessed to a "retinagraph" - the narrative that follows is then scanned from the back of his retina, thus complicating the gaze of the coloniser. It plays upon the idea of the impartial, objective view, the gaze of the coloniser, but also shows that the view is not disembodied but individual and partial.

Pull Quotes

"When he ventured forth from the smallroom
he activated a sensor-tile
that set off the first in a series of alarms
and sent a ripple through Unitel.

[...]

Then an oxygen-mask.
And, though one of his eyes

was totally written-off,
he was harnessed to a retinagraph.

[...]

So that, though it may seem somewhat improbable,
all that follows
flickers and flows
from the back of his right eyeball."