Swimmer (in the abyss)

Allen’s early work with computers often centered on explorations of human motion, with an interest in bringing humanity into the computer through a feminine perspective and female form. In this historical work, Rebecca worked with the first-ever 3D computer model of a female body and set about bringing it to life. Working with the inventors of today’s computer graphics and animation software, Allen took on the difficult task of getting the frozen human form to come alive; gradually, slowly, developing methods to allow a virtual body to move.

As an avid swimmer, Allen identified with the elegant, fluid motions of underwater swimming and understood that, like the ocean, the vast virtual world doesn’t follow the rules of gravity that bind us humans. The virtual world was empty then. Swimmer was one of the earliest examples of computer animation of a human form. We watch as the figure immerses herself in the vast abyss of virtual reality that is pulling us all in now.