One of the reasons that the virtual can be interpreted as ethereal and perplexing is because of the fact that the virtual depends on mixing physical matters and ecologies with platforms (i.e. computers, iPhones, Blackberries) that can combine bits and pieces of information, data, photographs, texts and numbers to create an environment accessible to others. Through the virtual world of the internet and Facebook chat I can talk to my friends back home in New York and laugh about the fact that I live in the future because it is already Wednesday in Sydney and it is still Tuesday in New York. The virtual world of the internet serves as an environment where my friends and I can meet and converse even though we’re miles away in different time zones.
The creation of the virtual world however tells a great deal about human nature and how we want to organize information and communication. The development of the virtual comes to be because of the need and want to not only communicate with others but also share information and organize information. Director Lars von Trier tries to take the chaos of ants and simulate their chaos remotely by having actors act in certain ways whenever lights flashed in the rooms they were placed in The World Clock. Director Trier tries to have “control over chaos” by telling others how to act but in reality Trier simply creates a virtual world, a simulation of the real world instead of finding meaning in reality and what is in front of him.[1] The lack of “control over chaos” drives Trier to create a place where he can organize what he finds to be meaningful information but ultimately Trier does not have full control of the actors and how they will perform.Again, he can only rely on what is real.
Perhaps Trier enjoys the fact that he has some control over the actors even though he is dependent on the ants nest. Even though he is aware of the lack of control he has over chaos, he tries to deal with this mentality and in order to solve his chaotic problem Trier has to accept a layer of unawareness. It is only then that one can come to terms with the virtual, reality, and everything in between.
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