[ DXARTS 200 2021 Sorry]
Sorry
Interactive game Hypertext with sound
DXARTS 200 Section A Winter Quarter 2021
Vivienne Tran
[email protected]
#ID: 2065159
[ DXARTS 200 2021 Sorry]
Sorry
2021
Interactive game Hypertext with sound
No dimensions; displayed on a computer display.
Materials: Computer, Twine
No venue; Online Hypertext website link
Project description
“Sorry” is a hypertext that is inspired by studies done on rejection and the use of
apologizing when having to reject an offer. Americans tend to use the word ‘sorry’ when
rejecting an offer, or simply in conversation when it is not needed. Therefore the work
explores the negative effects of over-apologizing. Although this work only focuses on
American culture’s use of over-apologizing, other English-speaking countries tend to
overuse the expression as well.
This work aims to provoke themes of changing language and culture trends, along with
the fading meanings of words in the English language.
This hypertext is to be made interactive on the Internet with a game-like format. The user
will be prompted with three scenarios to choose from: a date, roommate interview, or a
business meeting. Once the user has chosen a scenario, the person in the scenario will ask
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questions where the user will have to disagree or agree with. Although, most of the
questions will be questions that users will most likely disagree with. Answer options are:
I’m sorry, no (I don’t)/No (I don’t)/Yes (I do).
If the user picks the ‘I’m sorry, no (I don’t)’ option, a ringing hum will start off small, but
increase volume each time that option is clicked. If the user clicks the ‘No (I don’t)’ option,
no ringing hum will occur. Unless a ringing hum was already humming, then the volume of
it will decrease. If the user clicks the ‘Yes (I do)’ option, the ringing hum will stop.
Last part of the scenarios is that the user has to reject the offer that the other person in the
scenario makes. The answer options are: I’m sorry no (I don’t)/No (I don’t). If the user picks
the option with the apology, the screen will blacken and the ringing will be at max volume.
If the user picks the other option without the apology, the image of the scenario will still
be on the screen and will end with the other character humbly accepting the rejection.
The loud ringing aims to say that ‘sorry’ is not needed and rather has a more negative
outcome, while the humble rejection acceptation leads to a positive outcome.
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Vivienne Tran (b. 2002) was born in Berkeley, California. She primarily works in the
mediums of video, photo, and 2D art installations. Her artwork focuses on how in America,
people over-apologize in response to things that do not need apologies. It explores how
the word, ‘sorry’, has become an automatic expression for when one does not want to
offend another. Tran is also interested in exploring types of language and culture trends of
different countries in comparison to America.
Tran is currently a rst-year Honors student at the University of Washington studying Asian
Languages & Cultures. She is a part of the design committee of the student organization,
HOMEROOM. Her work has not been shown anywhere yet, but she continues to make an
effort to explore different mediums and create a variety of installations.
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Sketches
Roommate Example:
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LAST SCENE: REJECTION
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Equipment List
Equipment Items
Computer 1
Twine program 1
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References
Hypertext Art: Queers in love at the end of the world (2013) by Anna Anthropy
Net Art: My Boyfriend Came Back from the War (1996) by Olia Lialina
The above works have inspired me to investigate the over-apologizing culture in America
in a Hypertext game format because they were in a similar format with different stories
and incorporated different things. Anthropy’s Hypertext had a short game-like format and
the incorporation of the ticking timer and options to choose from helped inspire the
format of my idea. Lialina’s work used not only hypertext, but different animated images
and browser frames to tell an intriguing story. Both works leave the user with lingering
thoughts, which is what I hope to do with my work.
Bibliography
Anthropy, A. (2013). Queers in love at the End of the World. Retrieved March 14, 2021,
from https://webenact.rhizome.org/queers-in-love-at-the-end-of-the-world/http://
auntiepixelante.com/endoftheworld/
Ayduk,Ö., Gyurak, A., and Luerssen, A. (2008). Individual differences in the rejection-
aggression link in the hot sauce paradigm: the case of rejection sensitivity. J. Exp. Soc.
Psychol. 44, 775–782. doi: 10.1016/j.jesp.2007.07.004
Bernstein, M. J., Young, S. G., Brown, C. M., Sacco, D. F., and Claypool, H. M. (2008).
Adaptive responses to social exclusion: social rejection improves detection of real and
fake smiles. Psychol. Sci. 19, 981–983. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02187.x
[ DXARTS 200 2021 Sorry]
DeWall, C. N., Twenge, J. M., Bushman, B., Im, C., and Williams, K. D. (2010). A little
acceptance goes a long way: applying social impact theory to the rejection-aggression
link. Soc. Psychol. Pers. Sci. 1, 168–174. doi: 10.1177/1948550610361387
Freedman G, Burgoon EM, Ferrell JD, Pennebaker JW and Beer JS (2017) When Saying
Sorry May Not Help: The Impact of Apologies on Social Rejections. Front. Psychol. 8:1375.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01375
Holmes, L. (2017, September 14). The counterintuitive reason you shouldn't say 'sorry'.
RetrievedMarch 14, 2021, from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/stop-saying-
sorry_n_59b95175e4b0edff971875de
Lialina, O. (1996). My boyfriend came back from the war. Retrieved March 14, 2021, from
https://anthology.rhizome.org/my-boyfriend-came-back-from-the-war
Wesselmann, E. D., Butler, F. A., Williams, K. D., and Pickett, C. L. (2010). Adding injury to
insult: unexpected rejection leads to more aggressive responses. Aggress. Behav. 36, 232–
237. doi: 10.1002/ab.20347
