computerfinearts
Exhibiting net art /certain digital art etc. in a real (gallery) space is a difficult thing.
One difficulty is that a lot of these works have a strong conceptional part, which leads into the domain of my last post. But there are many more open questions, like e.g. computer literacy, presentation – even: What is art? why should one display/communicate at all? Or more down to earth: How do we preserve? Do we want to preserve? etc… (a nice overview about collecting e.g. -> here. This is getting too complicated for this blog entry. )
However one funny problem should be mentioned which occurs if the art pieces are completely online.
In an earlier post I reported about an exhibition connected with the art and math department at James Madison University in Harrisonburg/Virginia, where an online work of daytar called surrealey was under display.
It was a strange experience for me to get this brown envelope from Harrisonburg/Virginia with the invitation cards for the exhibition (here the site (which is still missing a more colourful page..;-)) – just in case – the cached site is here) and I was irritated what to do with the cards.
I.e. I dont know anybody in Harrisonburg/Virginia and: who would go all the country roads down from -lets say- New York to see an online piece in Virginia? On the other hand why not? Or is this too surreal?. How is surrealey perceived in this gallery in Virginia? I looked at Harrisonburg in Wikipedia but also on google-earth Harrisonburg is still quite blurred. (I dont have virtual earth, I am on linux).
A gallery or museum is generally not just a mean for bloating the screen (e.g. if one uses videoprojectors, and assumes that home screens are (still) relatively small). But is the gallery space making a difference for an online work? Can one better connect to the artwork there in Virginia or wherever? (like for example: in front of ones own screen it’s easier to zap). The outcome is probably unpredictable and everytime different.
Doron Golan of computerfinearts.com and dvblog.org had probably similar feelings when the whole online exhibition, which is here, went on display there (via a video projector at the digital arts museum in Berlin, Tucholskystr). I promised him to go to the opening on Nov. 9.
(admittingly it is not so far from my place to Berlin-Mitte as from NY to VA…:)).
The exhibition of computerfinearts was supplemented by an installation of artist Holger Lippmann, who was also present at the opening and by Forms of Unconsciousness represented on digital prints by Gerhard Mantz. (see above image)
So here are some blurry images from the opening on Nov 9 (top image:Mantz, below two images: DAM, images in between: Holger Lippmanns installation, last two images: taken from the wall, unfortunately, I havent yet found out from whom the artwork is, I will refer to its creators as soon as I know)
