Self
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As I have been exploring my way around virtual environments and coming to terms with questions such as how is art being transformed by new media? and what is the role of the gallery space now that the Internet offers world wide access to works generated and published by independent artists? I have become aware of a more fundamental shift. How has the sense of self been altered? How has the communication visual or otherwise of self altered? 36MC has invited participation by a range of practitioners and visitors. Ownership and authorship of material generated is collective. The content of this paper acting as a starting point for further debate which may further impinge on the outcomes generated by participants over the 36 hour period. We are all responsible, even by no response. This is perhaps is at odds with the art worlds normal critique of an artists work, a personal vision mediated through transformation of materials. But, it may be more pertinent to ask the question how well have we adjusted to this phenomena? It is all too easy to dismiss the Internet and computer based work as being 'not real art'. Yet it is ourselves that must understand and respond to the change. It is not the computer screen that holds the key as a window onto the virtual space. But the mechanisms by which we communicate through it and consequently extend the boundaries of ourselves. We are no longer confined to one self but are able to project a multitude of selves. Each one having only a transient state. The encryption of self into binary data infers no substance, yet is infinitely reproducible. Without our knowledge this data can be modified by others. The digital image has been derided by some for its impermanence, its lack of being. Where is the artefact upon which we can bestow definitions and values. The commercial world hasn't had the same problem. Billions of pounds worth of financial transactions occur at an hourly rate with no physical manifestation. If the sum of our creative acts defines us, then the current shift through dynamic flows of data seemingly starts to reflect a new image of ourselves.
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| Confinement | ||
| Collaboration | 6x6 | Self |
| Virtual Installation | 1296 Images | |
| SkinSky | ||
| taylor.nuttall@mcr1.poptel.org.uk | ||
| Download full paper (Zip file as html format). | ||
| Download full paper (Zip file as text format). | ||