Interviewer: Let's return to the question of adapting the novel. There's two natures, two essential qualities to the Griffin and Sabine novels. One is that it's a novel, a plotted story. The other is that it's this fragmented novel that uses the plasticity of the material--the delivery system--to add layers of meaning to the reader, participant, as they go through the books.

Alex Mayhew: A story in interaction.

Interviewer: Part of our argument is that humans are developing these new ways of interacting with narrative as part of our process of establishing more fluid identities from the fragmentation of our identities in the context of globalized culture. Hence we have developed the internet and the multimedia computer to satisfy a need.

Alex Mayhew: I'm not sure about that. I guess it's a natural evolution. I don't necessarily know that we need these things. Like, do we really need fifty-two TV channels? But it's evolved into that.

We don't have to find a use for the computer's potential as a narrative medium. Maybe we are just trying to make money out of it. I don't know. Obviously, I see an artistic potential but I don't think it's necessary. We interact every day, all the time, without computers. We'll never get as good interaction with a computer as we do between human beings.

But I actually see the potential of interactivity is to provide a place where you can become immersed in something and be interacting with it without necessarily any consequence or without being self conscious. It could be simply to free you from the constraints of reality.

I guess there's parallels to be made with drugs or you could call it virtual reality. It's like this dream thing that I'm doing. You wouldn't interact with butterflies in the same way or wasps or talk to animals or become an animal in real life. It's doing something that real life can't do. This is what makes it different from virtual reality where you're trying to imitate life. Most people try to imitate life with virtual reality. Also, visually, I'm not particularly interested in portraying 3-D space when we could explore other, maybe truer, sections of realities. I prefer the approach of Picasso. Cubism was about perceiving space and time in a different way, not in providing a photographic image.

So I think there's a huge artistic potential for the new media, but I don't know if it's a human need or not. Certainly I think that there's positive things to be gotten from it. But if anything, our uses of technology in media has been much less than positive. I originally thought this whole technology business was really dodgey. Either you could go and have a virtual relationship without any mess ups, and live in a dream world and not face reality, or you would be involved in a game that required killing things. I thought, I don't want to get involved with this. Then I realized that it's going to happen anyway. I might as well get involved in it and try and steer it towards a more positive direction. Everything in life is a double edged sword.

Interviewer: Let's talk about the project that you're moving towards--the dreams project.

Alex Mayhew: It's actually called 'Dreamer' at the moment. That's the current title.

Interviewer: Where does the inspiration come from this?

Alex Mayhew: Oh, god.

Interviewer: I know. I'm putting you on the spot

Alex Mayhew: I was always saying things like, "Multimedia can give you chance to do things that you can't do in real life. Interact with things you can't do in real life. Magical things. Almost like being in a dream-a dream that you can take control of." I think I probably said it so many times that I thought, that's not actually a bad idea--to have a dream world. It's also a perfect excuse for the non 3-D kind of imagery that interests me. I've always had this thing for dreams. I love dreams. I love the transition between realities and dreams--the point in between. One of my favorite books is 'Alice in Wonderland', which is a dream.

Interviewer: In constructing this work, do you sense that there's a larger point you're trying to make?

Alex Mayhew: Yes. It's about facing up to realities and facing up to truth and coming to terms with your demons. Not externalizing things, confronting things. Confronting things within yourself. But this is not what I going to discuss when I pitch the piece.

Interviewer: The market place isn't interested in games about self realization and confrontation with ones demons.

Alex Mayhew: No it's more that you can not essentially sell the idea in that package, even if its success is because of those ideas. For example, The Full Monty. It wasn't just about strippers. It was about depressing Sheffield. It was about coming to terms with your body or self confidence. It was about all of those things which were never put in the trailers. The stuff that "Dreamer" is about, most people won't get it on the conscious level. But on the subconscious level people will get it. So you can read into the subtext if you want. Or you can just appreciate the experience of the thing and maybe not even question why it's effecting you emotionally.

Interviewer: Given the current state of economics in the interactive multimedia field, how are you looking at developing the project.