Metagame 2

Memento Mortem Mortis

Memento Mortem Mortis is an original piece of software that simulates the stretched skull from Hans Holbein’s The Ambassadors (1533). Whereas Robert Lazzarini’s skulls (2001) features a variety of non-perspectival topological transformations applied to 3D geometry, Memento Mortem Mortis conflates the displaced picture plane from traditional anamorphic projection with the polygonal planes of a human skull through a graphic technique called texture mapping (see Figure 2.13). Although the anamorphic effects of puzzle games like Portal (2007), Echochrome (2008), levelHead (2008), and Miegakure (forthcoming) often revolve around a predetermined solution, in Memento Mortem Mortis each skull simply reveals a new level of anamorphic distortion. From a randomly generated maze to the multiple levels of digital distortion, the puzzle may have a solution, but it is not for us. It is picture planes all the way down. To download Memento Mortem Mortis, go to http://manifold.umn.edu/memento.