The art of long-distance communication is as old as the letter.But, since the dawn of the Internet, many web-based technologieshave brought new ways to initiate and enrich intimacy. And thoughthey may sometimes be as cold as a keyboard, these developments areoften perceived simultaneously as creating and bridging distance.
An exhibit at Fe Arts Gallery in Lawrenceville explores theseever-evolving forms of intimacy in the Internet age. Titled "GettingCloser," it proves that cyberspace is not just a technical device,but a phenomenon which has reduced the world to a proverbial globalvillage, fostering relationships both real and virtual.
The exhibit includes works by a dozen artists, each chosen by NewYork City-based independent curator Lindsay Howard, who previouslyorganized a chat room in which artists exchanged images. Now, thecurator has taken up the challenge of taking the virtual into a realspace.
"I stumbled upon an Internet art community creating these worksthat were intended to viewed on the Web," Howard says. "I wassurprised that I had never seen them in a gallery. And I was veryinterested in the challenge of translating that conceptual work to agallery space.
"All of these artists are using technology as a medium to exploreand consider what intimacy means now in this digital age, with allof this information and media that we have at our fingertips."
In putting together this show, Howard says it was important toher that the artists involved use digital tools as their primarymedium, ranging from video to Web-based art. "I looked for artistswho use technology to explore the possibilities of connection acrossdistance, both physical and metaphorical," she says.
"To be clear, this show is not about Internet dating or hook-upson Craigslist," Howard says. "I'm not interested in sex for sex'ssake or how the Internet can be a launching pad for 'real life'relationships. We already know that. What I see in the work of theseartists is a desire to connect through media."
Nevertheless, the real standouts in this exhibit are the worksthat are most closely aligned with romantic relationships. Take forexample "The Re-Gift" by Liz Rywelski, a first-year graduate studentin the visual studies/emerging practices concentration at theUniversity at Buffalo.
The piece is a performance of sorts that takes the form of abouthalf a dozen pre-paid cell phones available for the public to take.Each pre-paid phone is paid for one month, and during that month theholder of each phone will receive a few SMS text messages every daysent by the artist.
However, the texts weren't written by her. They were written by aformer boyfriend with whom she had a brief relationship lastingabout one month. According to Rywelski, this former boyfriend hadquite a gift for texting.
"These SMS are the same ones my lover once sent me," Rywelskisays. "The text on the phone asks the viewer to respond to the SMSif they are inclined to. It also says it's OK to share this phone orleave it places. And the text on the phone asks the holder of thephone to return the phone after a specified date, though this is notmandatory."
Though the mere act may seem like the work itself, Rywelski says,"The final work is a compilation of all the original SMS and variedresponses received. It answers the question of, if I were adifferent person, if I had responded to these original textsdifferently during our relationship, would we still be together?
"I know that's a bit 'crazy girlfriend' talk but that's how Ifelt at the time, like who do I have to be for you to love me?"Rywelski says. "These responses also render an answer to how 'crazygirlfriend' that question is, but (it's) also totally a relatablequestion. Sometimes, we find brilliant insightful answers to themost ridiculous questions. I like the idea that this work looks tothe public to render answers to this question without using anythingbut a cell phone."
Also responding to a brief, though still ongoing, relationship,is the work "Headquarters" by Sara Ludy and Nicolas Sassoon. Thoughthe two live far apart -- she in L.A. and he in Toronto -- the pairmet in Computers Club (www.computersclub.org), an online artcollective of which both are members.
In the club, artists use computer technology as an essential toolfor the creation and diffusion of their work. The notion ofcollective emanates mostly from the Computers Club website, whereeach artist displays artworks.
"The 'Headquarters' project is a proposal to build a physicalmeeting point," Sassoon says. "It's a center of operations for everymember of the collective."
But, he says, it's a "dream house" of sorts, which the coupleimagine building in Santa Fe. "An exciting aspect of this work forme was to collaborate with my girlfriend, Sara, on the idea of aplace where we could live in the future, along with other artiststhat we appreciate.
"The project, at this stage, is just meant to be utopic," Sassoonsays. "It is a reflection of what we would consider an ideal settingto establish our idea of the collective."
Less direct is the work of Dutch artist Rosa Menkman. Her piece"To Smell and Taste Black Matter" may look like the kind of a videoimage that you see when your TV isn't picking up a channel. But, inreality, it's an "artifact," according to the artist, of a Skypeconversation with her boyfriend.
Other works explore the notion of the real self verses thevirtual self. For example, in Riley Harmon's video works "Passenger4 (Laurel Canyon)" and "Passenger 5 (Collateral)," the artist, wholives in Lawrenceville and i an art student at Carnegie MellonUniversity, inserts himself in car scenes in movies, as if he wasactually in them.
"A lot of the things I make often have to do with simulation,virtuality and network culture," Harmon says. "These pieces areexperiments in using my visual-effects skills to see if it waspossible to replace actors in film scenes."
What is most amazing is that each scene looks believably real,but they are quite humorous. Harmon shows skill not onlytechnically, but as an actor because in each, not a word is spoken.Only expressions are exchanged between the actresses in the sceneand himself. That makes it seem very real, but funny when yourealize he is a virtual stand-in.
The remaining works are as engaging, each in their own way. And,seen together, they prove that, from a psychological perspective,the Internet has become a major vehicle for interpersonalcommunication that can significantly affect people's decisions,behaviors, attitudes and emotions.
Moreover, its existence has created a virtual social environmentin which people can meet, negotiate, collaborate and exchange goodsand information. And of course, make and display art.
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