Engaging the Virtual

Engaging the Virtual brings together some of Canada's foremost artists in the area of new media. Guest curator Doug Porter spent the past two years researching this exhibition, travelling across Canada, making studio visits, and attending confrences and symposia on new media and digital technologies. Doug is a digital and video artist himself, as well as a teacher and graphic designer, and his knowledge and experience in these areas have undoubtedly contributed to his thoughtful selections. Avoiding the easy or obvious effects that new media art can sometimes engender, he has chosen works by artists who explore technology with a critical attitude, asking questions about how we understand language, how we experience beauty, how we perceive ourselves and our presence in the world, and how we communicate with each other. 

 Of the nine artists included in this exhibition, seven are represented by physical installations. Doug Back, Juan Geuer, Laiwan, Jacques Perron, Catherine Richards, David Rokeby and Norman White employ a range of technologies, from the relative simplicity of film and video to complex installations using image recognition, laser beam, or customized cathode ray tube. Some of these works are highly interactive, and depend on viewer participation to engage their 'virtual' properties; others present visions to contemplate, some hauntingly beautiful, others amusing or disturbing. In addition to these installations, a selection of intriguing works created for the World Wide Web by artists JR Carpenter and Bob Rogers will be available at a computer workstation in the Gallery.