A Diary of Dreams

Sunday, August 08, 2004

OS 9000 (08/08/2004)

Floating above the clouds, Yuko and I searched for a time-gateway to cross into the far future and explore. We finally came to the fabled Gate of Tannhauser. Tall, lofty pillars stood above the clouds. They had been somewhat damaged, in the echoes of an atomic blast, resembling an unusually well-preserved Greek Temple. But they could be safely navigated.

We floated through, and found ourselves in a future shopping-mall with various wonderful things on floating displays. It was like something out of a 1950’s science-fiction comic, but very real with most things having a rather organic type of design. Truly, man imitates nature. Some things were robots, others vehicles for bizarre forms of transport, all were of the future.

We left after various forays, finding ourselves back in the ethereal reaches above the clouds. Not yet satisfied, we decided to float through those, tall white marble arches again. As we approached, suddenly, they were restored to their former, mythic, glory. This time we went far further into the future- 7000 years or so. We found ourselves in a far higher form of virtual reality- a simulation of a world, even more rich and detailed than the one we now inhabit, and think we know so well.

We floated down in space and time to a pool. Beautiful, lazy music played so ethereally that it was like the passage of the breeze. A large, red terrapin basked in the sunlight alongside other sea-creatures, many of which I had never seen before, and other fish swam alongside. I reached out to stroke my hand through the water and did so, it rippling in many colours. I reached out to touch the terrapin, which was poisonous. I realized that my hand and arm were covered in a black and silver skin of protective clothing, something like a space-suit made of fabric. I could feel close to the nature without in any way being harmed by it. I realized that this was the ultimate version of OS Windows, which had become a deeply immersive virtual reality- the dream of artists for centuries. Now, whatever we wanted to add to the program- originally merely a blue background on a monitor, which had since evolved to a 3D animated aquarium and beyond, was up to us.

To try this out, I swished my hand through the air, producing orange, gold and red waves that erupted in rich classical music, exciting the calm background sound (which we had hardly noticed as music and actually exists everywhere- now emphasized by the OS, as an artist might help you appreciate the beauty of a flower). Yuko didn’t like this, finding the more intense colours scary, and I could see that Microsoft had eventually realized a sublime fact- that people want the psychedelic experience, but they want to feel comfortable whilst having it. This is the very nature of embodied life in this world, brought out for us to experience more closely by OS 9000. I felt that man had become a creator, just as are those who created him.

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