I developed my first electronic literature / interactive narrative work, I am a Singer (1997) between 1995- 1997, acting as writer, artist, programmer, sound designer, producer and director. Developed as an MFA project at UNSW, the project was an interactive CD-ROM narrative supported by funding from the Australian Film Commission ( now Screen Australia). It was exhibited widely including in Australia, France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, USA, Mexico and Brazil. I am a Singer won several awards for digital media including Apple Australia Award for Individual Excellence 1998, AIMIA ’98 best title produced by a student, Invision‘98 Awards (US)- Best Digital Storytelling (Bronze), Omni Intermedia‘98 Awards (US)- Experimental (Silver) and Omni Intermedia‘98 Awards (US)- Sound Design (Silver).
“I Am A Singer” is an experiment in multimedia writing, a search into approaches towards style and form, narrative structure, and notions of engagement within a multimedia context. Concerned with memory and identity, it tells the fictional story of an amnesiac, Isobel Jones, who happens to be famous, but is still able to access the media traces of her life- songs, articles, newspaper clippings. Structurally, “I Am A Singer” is a narrative built of fragments, of small, discrete but intersecting sequences, mirroring the fragmented consciousness of the singer. It operates on a number of levels – as a pure tale about an amnesiac singer trying to regain her memory, and as a broader exploration of identity and remembrance.
I am a Singer (1997) screen cap 2
I am a Singer (1997) screen capture