Chest Simulator Digital Edition v.1.2

CHEST SIMULATOR digital edition Teddy Max Pozo 2025 [[about]] [[begin]]

CHEST SIMULATOR digital edition is interactive autofiction based on my experience of creating a clay sculpture as an arcade machine for a game that I made, and then showing that piece in an art gallery. At some points you may see a square window showing a game that you can navigate with the arrow keys on a computer, or by swiping the screen if you are on a smartphone. These games were made with Bitsy, a free online tool you can learn to use yourself if you would like to make more pixel-art games like these. At other points, you can click the links to advance the story. The overall structure was made with Twine 2, another easy-to-use tool for making interactive fiction and games. You can choose what you would like to read and what order you would like to read it in, but the story is inspired by my experiences, so you will not have a chance to significantly change what happened when I made and showed the piece. However, because I put some information about the building process, you may be able to try building your own conductive sculpture with a video game inside, if you would like. To learn more about who helped with the sculpture this story is based on, check out the [[credits]]. For more information on how to play Twine and Bitsy games, see the [[instructions]]. Or, just [[begin]].

[[THE CLAY->PART 1: THE CLAY]]

Your hands scrabbled past the thin grass and the sandy layer [[the red clay was underneath]]

You rolled it in your hands. You poked a hole. You pinched. You let your little pot dry in the sun. [[you made some things]]

You asked for clay from the art store for your birthday. You got the chance to make some sculptures in school. [[then you didn't work with clay for many years]]

Los Angeles. The slight opening from quarantine. A community pottery studio and a hand building class. You [[make a ball]]

The ball fits the shape of your hand. You [[poke a hole]]

The clay body will remember every move you make to shape it. You must use consistent and intentional pressure. You [[open the ball]]

Each student's first pinch pot fits the hand of the sculptor. The clay is cool and brown and solid in your hand. You like its unique shape. [[you keep going]]

You don't have any plans. You just want to hold the clay. You learn on the wheel. Then you realize, you are going to have to [[move away]]

Before you move, you make a very ugly pot. You decide to [[try something]]

You put copper tape on the ugly pot. You clip a little hacker toy called Makey Makey to the copper tape, and shove the mini computer into the pot. You link the wires to your laptop. You make a little game with Bitsy, an easy to use tool. Can the pot be a video game controller for this game? [[it works]]

Now you know what you have to do. [[You must build an arcade machine out of clay.]]

A new studio in Troy, New York. Advanced Handbuilding. You had to apply for this class with pictures of your past work. You tell the teacher you will make an arcade machine for a video game. It has to be big enough to put your laptop inside. Bigger than anything you have ever made. No problem. She thinks this is a great idea. She can help you. You have no expectations, but [[you will try.]]

Welcome to CHEST SIMULATOR DIGITAL EDITION. Choose what part of the machine to build, and I will tell you what I was thinking about. I will ask you to imagine how you would build it, and then I will show you what I built. To begin, try to make... [[THE SKETCH]]

You remember a vibrating penny arcade machine. "THE DOCTOR," otherwise known as "VIBRATORY DOCTOR." A campy thing, with a big metal chest and a rubber "hand" on a tube that would vibrate for a few seconds. You like the old vibration machines, the love testers and fake electrocutions to test your strength. Vibrotactility replacing electrotactility. The Doctor machine says "VIBRATION IS PLEASANT!" You want to make one of these, a "figural arcade machine," out of clay. To plan it, you make a small sculpture that fits in your hand, a sketch of the machine. [[make the sketch]]

You test your Bitsy game. For the audience, holding both hands of the sculpture will press the only key needed to play: the up arrow. For your purposes, you can press the up arrow directly. It's quicker to test that way. You might have to click in the window to make sure the arrow keys are working.... There it goes! <iframe id="chest-simulator-bitsy" title="Chest Simulator" width="480" height="480" src="https://drpozo.neocities.org/chest_simulator_game"></iframe> [[looks good]]

After this, I want to add another Bitsy where you walk around in the gallery and talk to people about how they felt when they played the game. Here are some of the things people said or I'm thinking about including. "What are the sculpture's pronouns? I don't want to get it wrong." "Aren't you worried I'm going to break it? I almost don't want to touch it at all." "I don't play video games. It won't work for me." a group of teen boys that giggled uncomfortably and walked away "That was so moving. Can I hug you?" "I never thought about it like that! I never understood before!" "Excuse me, how does it work?" "This is going to be in a museum one day." "Could you take the head off? I want to look inside!""No? That's all right." "What is it like to get top surgery? Does it hurt?" "My top surgery date is next month. I'm so glad I played this beforehand!" "How did you know what I looked like? Why did you make a portrait of me?" "Who is the sculpture supposed to be?" This person wants a "trans 101". No problem! You do this for a living as a teacher. "The hands being pierced reminds me of stigmata." "The colors remind me of an African mask I grew up with in my parents' house." "The body parts remind me of colonial museums harvesting people's bodies and putting them on display." "It seems kind of like Bitsy, but that can't be it..." "Oh, it is Bitsy? I've made a Bitsy game before!" "I'm a video game design grad student!" "I never got the chance to play because so many people were crowding around. Maybe next time." "It was talking to me!" Then I don't know what to do! Maybe ask the player for another reflection? Back to [[start]]

I'm Teddy Max Pozo, the creator of CHEST SIMULATOR and this digital experience of it. The following places, people, and materials helped me to make, test, and show CHEST SIMULATOR. Click to explore them all. (link:"Silver Plated Secrets")[(open-url:"https://freight.cargo.site/original/i/I2188183687532437839942994825081/Silver-Plated-Secrets-Press-Release.pdf")] + (link:"Blue Reinhard")[(open-url:"https://bluereinhard.com/")] (link:"other others")[(open-url:"https://www.h-r.la/event/other-others-rehearsals-in-the-skin/")] + (link:"Selwa Sweidan")[(open-url:"https://selwasweidan.com")] + (link:"Nina Sarnelle")[(open-url:"http://ninasarnelle.com/")] (link:"high-temp wire")[(open-url:"|https://www.theceramicshop.com/store/category/9/32/Wire/")] + (link:"Makey Makey")[(open-url:"https://makeymakey.com/")] + (link: "Bitsy Game Maker by Adam LeDoux")[(open-url:"https://madisonschmalzer.com/")] (link:"Communion: Trans Memorial and Mourning, season 3")[(open-url:"https://qtcommunion.substack.com/p/season-3-baba-halmeoni-beastly-things")] + (link:"i. h. owen")[(open-url:"https://www.iannahawkinsowen.com/")] (Link:"Katherine Tholl")[(open-url:"https://katherinetholl.com")] (link:"mattie brice")[(open-url:"http://www.mattiebrice.com")] + (link:"empathy machine")[(open-url:"http://www.mattiebrice.com/empathy-machine/")] (link: "Senem Pirler")[(open-url:"https://www.senempirler.com/")] (link:"Jett Allen")[(open-url:"https://jettallen.com/about")] (link:"Holy Pepperoni")[(open-url:"")] (link:"Marcy's Plight")[(open-url:"https://grommmie.itch.io/marcysplight")] (link:"Patrick Carroll")[(open-url:"https://www.patrickcarroll.work/")] + (link:"Broderick Fox")[(open-url:"https://www.oxy.edu/academics/faculty/broderick-fox")] +(link:"Lynn Hong")[(open-url:"https://lynnhong.cargo.site/")] + (link:"Derek Jameson")[(open-url:"https://derekjamesonmusic.com/about")] +(link:"Sydney S. Kim")[(open-url:"https://sydneyskim.com/about-1")] + (link:"Bee Sacks")[(open-url:"https://beesacks.com/")] + (link:"Rax Will")[(open-url:"https://linktr.ee/raxxxwill")] (link:"Madison Schmalzer")[(open-url:"https://madisonschmalzer.com/")] +(link:"Jess Rowan Marcotte")[(open-url:"https://jeka.games/")] [[about]] [[instructions]] [[begin]] game

A figural arcade machine the player can touch to play a game. What will it look like? Imagine or draw what you would make, and I will show you what I made. [[ready]]

You made an initial sketch for your figural arcade machine out of red clay. [[looks fine for now->sculpt]] <img src= "http://drpozo.neocities.org/sketch.png">

<div class = "parent"> <img class="image1" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/bg.png"> </div> It's time to make the machine out of clay. It must have a body, two hands, and a head. What will you make first? [[head->HEAD]] [[body->BODY]] [[right hand->RIGHT HAND]] [[left hand->LEFT HAND]] (set: $head to false) (set: $body to false) (set: $lhand to false) (set: $rhand to false)

The slab needs to be firm enough to stand on its edge, and wet enough to be easily curled into a tube. When it is both firm and flexible, you can make a cylinder. [[you push in and out the cylinder's face]]

Gently, you press in for the eye sockets. Reaching inside, you gently apply pressure to push a nose outward. You press little by little from in and out to sculpt the cheekbones. A slight pressure from inside gives the suggestion of a mouth. The head has no crown. It's rectangular at the top but empty. Like that old movie of [[Frankenstein]]

You're planning a surgery that will leave you with stitches and scars. Some people call those who have it Frankensteins. Victor Frankenstein was ashamed of creating a person. He immediately fled from his creature. You resolve to accept your creation [[no matter what.]]

As you add the crown and refine the features, you decide to create a head that is neither male nor female. You don't create a portrait. You give it features you find pleasing to look at. You leave the eyes closed. The head will be facing the player but not looking at them. [[finish the head]]

A creation representing yourself, but not yourself. A promise to accept your creation, of the clay and of your own body. (set: $head to true) (link:"continue")[ (if: $body is false and $lhand is false and $rhand is false)[(go-to: "h")->h] (if: $body is true and $lhand is false and $rhand is false)[(go-to: "hb")->hb] (if: $body is true and $lhand is true and $rhand is false)[(go-to: "hbl")->hbl] (if: $body is true and $lhand is true and $rhand is true)[(go-to: "sculpt complete")->sculpt complete] (if: $body is false and $lhand is false and $rhand is true)[(go-to:"hr")->hr] (if: $body is false and $lhand is true and $rhand is false)[(go-to:"hl")->hl] (if: $body is false and $lhand is true and $rhand is true)[(go-to:"hlr")->hlr] ]

<div class = "parent"> <img class="image1" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/bg.png"> <img class="image2" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/head.png"> </div> What will you make next? [[body->BODY]] [[right hand->RIGHT HAND]] [[left hand->LEFT HAND]]

<div class = "parent"> <img class="image1" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/bg.png"> <img class="image2" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/body.png"> <img class="image2" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/head.png"> </div> What will you make next? [[right hand->RIGHT HAND]] [[left hand->LEFT HAND]]

<div class = "parent"> <img class="image1" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/bg.png"> <img class="image2" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/head.png"> <img class="image2" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/lhand.png"> </div> Now the last thing, the [[right hand->RIGHT HAND]].

<div class = "parent"> <img class="image1" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/bg.png"> <img class="image2" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/body.png"> </div> What will you make next? [[head->HEAD]] [[right hand->RIGHT HAND]] [[left hand->LEFT HAND]]

<div class = "parent"> <img class="image1" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/bg.png"> <img class="image2" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/body.png"> <img class="image2" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/head.png"> <img class="image2" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/rhand.png"> <img class="image2" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/lhand.png"> </div> You created all the parts of the sculpture. It is one of the largest things anyone is making, and it takes up a lot of space on the shelves of this clay studio in the basement of the community arts center. Everybody has something to say about it as you [[walk around]].

<div class = "parent"> <img class="image1" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/bg.png"> <img class="image2" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/lhand.png"> </div> What will you make next? [[head->HEAD]] [[body->BODY]] [[right hand->RIGHT HAND]]

<div class = "parent"> <img class="image1" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/bg.png"> <img class="image2" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/rhand.png"> </div> What will you make next? [[head->HEAD]] [[body->BODY]] [[left hand->LEFT HAND]]

<div class = "parent"> <img class="image1" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/bg.png"> <img class="image2" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/head.png"> <img class="image2" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/lhand.png"> </div> What will you make next? [[body->BODY]] [[right hand->RIGHT HAND]]

<div class = "parent"> <img class="image1" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/bg.png"> <img class="image2" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/rhand.png"> <img class="image2" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/lhand.png"> </div> What will you make next? [[head->HEAD]] [[body->BODY]]

Here is where I would put a bitsy game of the studio members telling me comments about the sculpture that I got in that era. Some examples: "Human sculptures freak me out. It looks like a dead body." "It looks so calm and meditative, like Aang from Avatar." "I made a Buddha statue for my garden. It reminds me of that." "I think you should add hair." "No, don't add hair! It won't look as calm!" "I wonder how you will glaze it. Will you use red iron oxide?" "It might break in the kiln, you know. Don't get too attached." "Your sculpture's going to fill up the whole kiln. Why don't you help load it in?" "The facial features are too strong. It doesn't look realistic." "The ruffle on its neck looks like William Shakespeare." "It looks like the Teletubbies, you know, how they have those screens on their belly "I bet my brother would think it was really cool how you are making a video game out of clay. I don't play video games." "Does anyone else do this kind of art? I've never heard of it!" I'm thinking of letting the player go down a research rabbit hole at this point if they'd like to, on one of the things people brought up, especially: -> the idea of the dead body and the uncanny valley and robotics -> whether the statue is Buddhist or South Asian looking, and whether it's culturally appropriative -> maybe the glaze process could be an optional side quest here. After that, I'll show the finished and glazed version as seen on the side. <div class = "parent"> <img class="image1" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/bg.png"> <img class="image2" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/glazedsculpture.png"> </div> Then there'd be a part about making the game, and I've been able to embed the game into this Twine. Here's a sample of that: [[The game]]

<div class = "parent"> <img class="image1" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/bg.png"> <img class="image2" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/head.png"> <img class="image2" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/rhand.png"> </div> What will you make next? [[body->BODY]] [[left hand->LEFT HAND]]

A shapeless body, clothed in a ruffling robe, or with scraps of flesh peeling away. A set of holes, waiting for other body parts to be fitted. (set: $body to true) (link:"continue")[ (if: $head is false and $lhand is false and $rhand is false)[(go-to: "b")->b] (if: $head is true and $lhand is false and $rhand is false)[(go-to: "hb")->hb ] (if: $head is true and $lhand is true and $rhand is false)[(go-to: "hbl")->hbl] (if: $head is true and $lhand is true and $rhand is true)[(go-to: "sculpt complete")->sculpt complete] (if: $head is false and $lhand is false and $rhand is true)[(go-to:"br")->br] (if: $head is true and $lhand is false and $rhand is true)[(go-to:"hbr")->hbr] (if: $head is false and $lhand is true and $rhand is false)[(go-to:"bl")->bl] (if: $head is false and $lhand is true and $rhand is true)[(go-to:"blr")->blr] ]

A large and comforting hand with a coil of wire in the palm. A chance to complete a circuit between the player's body, and this proxy body. (set: $rhand to true) (link:"continue")[ (if: $body is false and $lhand is false and $head is false)[(go-to: "r")->r] (if: $body is true and $lhand is false and $head is false)[(go-to: "br")->br] (if: $body is true and $lhand is true and $head is false)[(go-to: "blr")->blr] (if: $body is true and $lhand is true and $head is true)[(go-to: "sculpt complete")->sculpt complete] (if: $body is false and $lhand is false and $head is true)[(go-to:"hr")->hr] (if: $body is false and $lhand is true and $head is false)[(go-to:"lr")->lr] (if: $body is false and $lhand is true and $head is true)[(go-to:"hlr")->hlr] (if: $body is true and $lhand is false and $head is true)[(go-to:"hbr")->hbr] ]

A grasping left hand, twisted and tense. A connection through the body of the player, the body of the sculpture, and the history of electricity. (set: $lhand to true) (link:"continue")[ (if: $body is false and $head is false and $rhand is false)[(go-to: "l")->l] (if: $body is true and $head is false and $rhand is false)[(go-to: "bl")->bl] (if: $body is true and $head is true and $rhand is false)[(go-to: "hbl")->hbl] (if: $body is true and $head is true and $rhand is true)[(go-to: "sculpt complete")->sculpt complete] (if: $body is false and $head is false and $rhand is true)[(go-to:"lr")->lr] (if: $body is false and $head is true and $rhand is false)[(go-to:"hl")->hl] (if: $body is true and $head is false and $rhand is true)[(go-to:"blr")->blr] (if: $body is false and $head is true and $rhand is true)[(go-to:"hlr")->hlr] ]

<div class = "parent"> <img class="image1" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/bg.png"> <img class="image2" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/head.png"> <img class="image2" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/lhand.png"> <img class="image2" src="http://drpozo.neocities.org/rhand.png"> </div> Now the last thing, the [[body->BODY]].

This studio has a grainy recycled red clay perfect for hand building. You can take as much as you want. You scoop it out of the bucket and wedge it, a kind of kneading. You roll a ball, then press that ball into a wide cylinder. Rolling your hands from center to edge, you make the coil longer, keeping it thick. You scrape score marks into the clay beneath and the new coil, building each one on the next, in a [[trapezoid shape]].

The base needs to be wide enough to fit your computer parts and screen, and the body must be strong enough to stand on its own, and hold up the head you will make. You also need a hole in the center of the body to show a screen. At each hole, you want the parts to slide into one another and look organic, so you add some ruffles, or petals, or maybe scraps of [[flesh]], to soften the openings.

The body overall is a bit shapeless, limbs hidden under what seems to be a long cloak or [[robe]]. You hope the body shape won't be the focus, since players will be looking at the screen.

You have built a hollow mound for the machine's body, with two holes for hands to come out and one hole at the top with a large neckline to stabilize the head. You will be able to reach through these holes once the clay is rigid to set up the inner workings of the device. [[finish the body]]

Sometimes people use a rolling pin or a fancy machine to make clay slabs. For the palm you will slap the clay on the table yourself. You hold a flat disc in your hands and let momentum flatten it out little by little as you strike it decisively on the wooden table. [[nice and flat and round]]

Two such slabs come together to form a hollow palm, and another forms a hollow wrist. The hand is much bigger than your own hand. That makes it easy to slip your hand into it. You add the [[fingers]]

Your teacher shows you how to use several coils to make the fingers look realistic. Fingers are jointed, and each segment has round bits and angles. You would not want to use a simple snake-like shape to represent them. You add little bits to make the knuckles. You carve in the fingernails with a little metal tool. Like giving your sculpture a manicure. All the while, you [[hold the hand]].

The hand has its fingers pressed together and thumb outstretched, leaving a lot of room for another person to hold it calmly. You feel comforted by the hand. It is a portrait of your hand, but also designed for your hand to fit inside it. Like a good friend. [[finish the right hand]]

When the player touches both hands, they will not feel an electric shock, but they will complete an electric circuit. When the circuit is complete, the button in the game will be pressed. You think about the representation of electricity, the idea of shock. You twist your hand and flex the [[knuckles]].

You decide to sculpt a hand that will be grasping in midair, like it is being shocked, or setting a lightning spell. You make the hand with slabs, the fingers with coils, but you must separate the fingers and make each one tense and flexed. You put the hand on the table with the fingers facing straight up, the wrist as a base to the sculpture and the hand [[vertical]].

The shocked left hand seems like a supernatural creature, reaching through the table for the sky. Will people find your sculpture scary, or disturbing? [[you're not sure what you want them to think]].

When you insert the wires into the hand, you coil the wire around a pencil. The coil of wire reminds you of a cartoon lightbulb. The two ends firmly pierce the palm of the hand, with a spring-like horizontal stretch of curling wire in the center. [[finish the left hand]]

To play a Twine game, look at the color of the text on the screen. Some text will be clickable and other parts will not be. They will be different colors. If you click a link, this will lead you to another passage of the story. In this story, you will not be able to go back, unless another link gives you this choice. To play the Bitsy games embedded in the Twine game, you may have to click or tap within the square window to begin. If a text box appears when you hover your mouse over the Bitsy game, move the cursor away and it should go away. Use the arrow keys (up, down, left, right) to navigate the Bitsy space, or, if you are on a smartphone, swipe in four directions to move your avatar on the screen. The avatar may only be able to move in one direction, because it is surrounded by invisible walls. Some tiles on the Bitsy window are able to be interacted with, and will give you more parts of the story. These may be flashing or may be a different color than the rest of the screen. Go up to them and press or swipe in any direction to continue the story. The screen will become blank when the Bitsy story ends. When the Bitsy portion ends, click the next link to continue, or skip past the Bitsy portion by clicking this link at any time. See the [[credits]]? Or, [[begin]] the story.

click within the window to enter the world <iframe id="the_clay" title="THE CLAY" width="480" height="480" src="https://drpozo.neocities.org/the_clay"></iframe> [[continue]]

[[THE MACHINE->PART 2: THE MACHINE]]