What once was radical innovation eventually becomes nostalgia. Can the digital relics of the past be used to form the basis of a new artificially intelligent utopia? In an effort to evoke these low-res remembrances and community connections, Site Gallery’s Society of Explorers, in collaboration with artists Antonio Roberts and Lucy Cheesman, blow on the cartridge and load up Cyber Cafe. The exhibition is a collection of new work embracing the granularity of the early monolithic world wide web.
Blacklights and neon posters on the walls – you’d be forgiven for thinking that you were in a Berlin techno warehouse. But the initial weirdness is quickly subsumed by the squidgy, squelchy synthesised sounds of Dial Up Dream. This collaborative piece by both artists and the Explorers creates an audio and visual focus for the exhibition. The live coding for the soundtrack is projected onto the wall, with the vibration able to be experienced on the "viewing platform."
Sensation and its effect on those arriving at the exhibition has been carefully considered. In Myspace GIFs a television displays a data dump of personal self-help messages around online safety. Taking the time to disconnect, having a hobby outside of scrolling, and making sure that you control the tabs and that they don’t control you. Their pixelated GIF style like a digital collage.
But perhaps the most entertaining use of lo-tech are the Game Boy Camera Photographs. Various subjects – still life, landscape and portraits – are displayed in neon vividness. It is noted that the highly pixelated nature of these final images made the group less self-conscious – I would welcome these abstract blocky forms over a sea of selfies!
