Andromeda and Eliza

Andromeda and Eliza is a work of interactive fiction that combines Twine hypertext with parser-fiction interactions to invite readers to consider choice and agency. You, as Andromeda, are caught in every woman’s dilemma, with only a few choices for escape--and none of them good. Perhaps you can find a meaningful way out, or perhaps you will be enticed into an endless discussion with a hypocritical ELIZA that questions your intentions and your morality. How long will you engage?This work builds on layered adaptations, drawing from both the mythical story of Andromeda and the original code of the ELIZA bot. Both Andromeda and ELIZA are ultimate examples of women without agency: one is chained to a rock to await demise for the apparent sin of beauty, while the other is a procedural therapist who exists in an endless state of questioning and response, programmed to show nothing but interest and patience with even the most obnoxious of queries. By rewriting the code of the original story (and of the ELIZA bot herself) we will re-imagine the woman’s journey from victim to co-author of her own fate. This is a new hypertext work created for installation at the festival. Technical Requirements: Windows PC computer with modern browser preferred, headphones, mouse and keyboard. Relies on both text input and mouse input.

(Source: ELO 2017: Book of Abstracts and Catalogs)