Artist turns ‘Ecco the Dolphin’ into psychedelic art installation

To most people, Ecco the Dolphin may be nothing more than a vintage video game. To artist Andrew Norman Wilson, however, it means so much more. Wilson is the mastermind behind “ECCOS” — a “six-hour meditation video” featuring slowed-down footage of a gamer beating Ecco the Dolphin on Sega Genesis. Wilson produced the work from an 80-minute clip, to which he added echo filters for both audio and video tracks. The result, as demonstrated in the trailer below, is nothing short of haunting — a swirling, psychedelic, and slightly ominous collection of pixelated creatures and seascapes, scored to a persistent low hum.

ECCOS is just one part of Wilson’s “Center for Wave Change” — a proposed “experimental philosophical space that focuses on the phenomena of waves.” The location of this exhibit has yet to be determined, but Wilson plans to project the video on a display suspended from the ceiling of a room. The resulting images will be funneled through two other projectors, and refracted through a plexicube of water containing an upward-tilting mirror. On the ground will be four speakers positioned against four circular water beds, as part of a setup designed to let visitors “literally feel the sound waves while standing or lounging.”