I'm having a hard time deciding whether this is performance art ... or just a really elaborate way to get to spend a whole lot of time playing your favorite video game.
It seems artist Jordan Wayne Long of Arkansas has decided to ship himself across the country in a crate during which time he will have contact with the outside world only through a game. That game: "Lord of the Rings Online."
Long, who says this experience is all part of a study about how people cope with post traumatic stress disorder, expects the trip — from Bald Knob, Ark., to Portland, Ore. — to take seven days. His friend Bradi Roberts will be driving his container — which he's been building himself — on the back of a flatbed trailer.
As Long explained to MMORPG.com:
In my art I study trauma and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In my research I have found that many people who are confined to their homes due to physical or emotional trauma find online games a place where they feel safe to enter back into the social sphere. Unlike the real world, they can enter and exit whenever they choose, be whoever they want to be and feel like functioning members of society again.
Being locked in the crate is an opportunity for me to feel the effects of being confined and understand better how these online communities can affect us in a positive way.
Thought-provoking performance art? The best video game vacation ever? You decide.
Better yet, you can check out all the details on Long's blog right here or follow him on Twitter here. For her part, once they hit the road on July 1, Roberts will post details from outside the box while Long posts details from inside the box ... and inside the game.
Meanwhile, you can check out some of Long's other performance/video pieces here. Note, he's worked with boxes and confined spaces before.
Meanwhile, if you'd like to join Long while he's on his long journey — at least virtually — you'll find him on the Meneldor server where the character Townsfolk, a level 40 Dwarf, will be blogging about his adventures. And if you're in Portland, you can catch his arrival/unboxing on July 7at the Fourteen30Contemporary space curated by Rocksbox Fine Art.
But here's a suggestion: You might want to stand back a bit when they crack open that crate. Seven days locked in a box playing video games? That is gonna stink.
(Thanks to The Escapist for the heads up.)
For more games news, check out:
- Putting the fear in 'F.E.A.R. 3'
- Will 'Grand Theft Auto V' hit the road in 2012?
- Duke Nukem is down, but not out
Winda Benedetti writes about games for msnbc.com. You can follow her tweets about games and other things right here on Twitter.
