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THERE IS NO RICHARD BAXTER (THE aRTIST IN THE BOX)
A CONCEPTUAL MULTIMEDIA EXPLORATION INTO THE CONCEPT OF 'SELF' AND 'OTHER' Project begins December 4, 2005 |
Skip the explanation, take me to the project...
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THE CONCEPT
This installation will examine the way we perceive others, particularly related to the internet or telephone communication, and how we cannot ever really 'see' or know who or what we are looking at. This ancient philosophical realization has been heightened in recent times via the internet, where people form relationships with other people they have never actually seen in 'real life'. These people are relating to dots on a screen and sounds from a speaker, and have an image formed in their mind of an imaginary person they believe exists in another location. It has proven to be a common experience that the eventual meeting of an internet contact, may not match the expectations derived from the electronic images seen and heard. In extreme cases, a computer can generate responses which are very hard to discern from a real human being. It is becoming increasingly common for people to interact with computers on an everyday basis via the phone or internet. Many of these computers pretend to be human, and the question of identity arises. Who or what is a 'real' presence? Thus the subject of this self portrait will remain visually hidden at all times and at times will not even be there in reality. On an even deeper level, this veil of ideas in which we form images of other human beings has always existed, even in 'real life' where we also only have images, ideas and concepts of the person we are perceiving. Any sense of 'reality' we have is limited, and an invention. So what is a self portrait in the end, other than a tiny fragment of an idea, which has very little 'reality' to it? This installation asks, can we ever really know anyone? and yet offers various methods of communication, to try and make some kind of knowledge or picture possible. In the end, it highlights the fact that the person we are looking at, either in real life or in a portrait, is a fuzzy and limited collection of ideas and concepts, and try as we may, the 'other' will always remain in our own heads as a concept. Hopefully questions such as these, lead people to examine one of the ultimate questions: What is self or consciousness, and where does it exist? We may eventually discover that even our own sense of 'self' is also only a limited construct, and that 'self' and 'other' may not be so separate in the end. |
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THE INSTALLATION
In the gallery will be a wooden box on the floor, large enough to hold the artist inside. The artist will periodically reside within the box, at random times, not to be known to the public. Fundamental to the concept will be the concealment of the artist from view at all times. At random times, there will be interaction with the artist and the web page viewers or the gallery visitors, establishing the presence of the artist in the box. Visitors to the web page will be able to fill in an online form, which will be emailed to the artist inside the box. The artist will reply to all emails. On the web page will also be a web camera image, which will display the box in the gallery 24 hours a day. Gallery visitors will be able to communicate with the artist via at least four methods: 1) On top of the box will be a small working 1940's telephone exchange and an old telephone. Inside the box will be a second telephone. The viewer will be able to call the artist inside the box by lifting one of the phones, and communicate. On top of the exchange will be an old glowing cat nightlight. 2) Also on the box or next to it will be a working computer, screen and keyboard. This screen will display a web page containing a Flash animation of the artist, a real time web cam view of the installation, and an online form the viewer can fill out, which contains a list of questions, or they may type their own questions. The form is then sent, and the artist will answer the questions at a later date via email. A second computer will reside in the box so that the artist can respond immediately. 3) The third element of communication will be a small file of self addressed and stamped envelopes on the box, and paper and pencils. The gallery visitor will be encouraged via a sign, to write to the artist or draw pictures of themselves, and the artist will reply via the post. The viewer may also post the letters into the box via a small hole in the top of the box. In this case, the artist may reply with a note immediately, which may include a sketch of the outside person as imagined from the inside. 4) The artist's mobile phone number will be included in the catalogue, in publicity, on the website and on the box, to encourage interactivity. INTERACTIVITY During the times the artist is inside the box, interactivity will occur with people in the gallery, but at no time will the artist be visible other than a hand which may appear through the hole. Interactivity will include giving out cupcakes and small plastic animals through the hole/ phoning the outside telephone to see if anyone answers/ puppet shows/ replying to emails/ throwing out screwed up pieces of paper with poetry, pictures and Zen proverbs etc written on them. There will be no verbal response from the artist, other than via telephone. |
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