“when you are close to me I shiver” is an algorithmically controlled live simulation. It is a real-time generated virtual experience that takes place in a version of the future in which humans, out of desperation, gather in masses on the last remaining piece of land. Inspired by the walrus scene in the documentary “Our Planet” narrated by David Attenborough and produced by Silverback Films, the project proposes an intense scenario encompassing our environmental and personal crises. It reflects on how we identify and connect ourselves in different realities while addressing the human condition in a world in ecological and therefore social crisis. In fact, the population of the virtual land of “when you are close to me I shiver” is (per)formed and inhabited solely by 3D-scanned clones of the artist herself. Through these perceivable avatars, the artist creates a new identity that arises out of plurality, proprioceptively renegotiating the fragility of both the physical and the virtual self and its realities.
The dystopian imagery of “when you are close to me I shiver” reveals a seemingly surreal scene that is all too real after all.

Premiere: Creative Climate Care: Martina Menegon, MAK – Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna, October 2020
Award: departure Challenge „Digital adventures in designing experiences and telling stories“ (Vienna Business Agency in cooperation with Sound:frame and V2_Lab for the Unstable Media)

sound design: Alexander Martinz