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                    PUBLIC PERFORMANCE / VIRTUAL REALITY ENVIRONMENT / WEB SITE 
                  THE 
                    TECHNO-MARRIAGE 
                  CITY 
                    HALL, ISSY-LES-MOULINEAUX 
                    18 MARCH 1999 
                  FRED 
                    FOREST AND SOPHIE LAVAUD, CO-AUTHORS 
                    BRUNO HERBELIN, PR0GRAMMER 
                  http://www.fredforest.org/technomariage/default.htm 
                  The 
                    “Techno-Marriage” is work rich in esthetic, social, 
                    and philosophical significance insofar as it was real wedding 
                    as well as a collaborative and interactive artwork and an 
                    experiment in online ritual: i.e., Forest and Lavaud were 
                    legally married in artistic performance combining a civil 
                    ceremony conducted at city hall and a digital replica of the 
                    ceremony, acted out in real time by their digital avatars 
                    (in response to input from movement sensors worn by their 
                    flesh-and-blood counterparts) in a surrealistic virtual reality 
                    setting. Both versions of the ceremony were webcast simultaneously 
                    on the project website, which was set up to accommodate the 
                    long-distance participation of certain members of the wedding 
                    party as well as interested members of the general public, 
                    who could email their messages of congratulations and order 
                    flowers or wedding gifts online. 
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