When I first started watching Cory Arcangel’s “Super Mario Clouds”, I thought my phone was broken. I actually restarted the video a few times because I thought there was a playback issue that was keeping me from enjoying the video. It was only about a minute later that I found out that video was working, it was just that I was expecting more from the video than it was giving. What clued me in to this fact was that I looked away from the screen for a few seconds and when I came back, I realized the clouds were in different places. From that point on, I knew what was happening with the video and continued to watch for the full five minutes and fifty-three seconds. During the video, I found myself questioning what was happening, but also drifting in thought as the clouds continued to scroll by. For five minutes and fifty-three minutes, I went into an intense period of reflection and introspection that I’d didn’t expect to happen upon starting the video. It was nice. It was peaceful. I got to escape my day, even though it was a very short time, and just focus on existing.
After finishing the video, I went through the comments to see what people were saying about it and other than seeing a lot of other students saying they were watching this for their respective classes, one person explained how you probably wouldn’t get the full value of the video unless you saw it in the exhibition where the video was playing on wall surrounding the viewer and making them feel a part of the landscape. This made me think about our discussions on immersion in video-games and how it can be used as a tool for escapism. While I thought about how this could make someone feel like they were in the Super Mario landscape, I felt like something entirely different was happening. I felt that this video simply allowed for the viewer to be placed in a new world and let reality fade away as they take in their new surroundings as they explored a newfound. I wasn’t even a part of the exhibition and I felt transported somewhere that made me forget about what I was doing at that moment. This video also made me think about using immersion as a type of therapy and what benefits this could have. Being able to escape reality, even for a short time, I feel could have immense benefits when it comes to someone’s mental state.