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THE SIXTH EDITION'S SELECTION  We have selected ten Web art projects which attracted our attention.
Doyon/Demers Ferlanc. Over there, Somewhere 1998 Over there, Somewhere is the official site of the Musée International Voyeuriste, created by Ferlanc. and the Scientific Team of Jacky Jack J. Smith Smithson. This unique work blends literature, photo-montage and sound. The site is divided in two zones, allowing the visitor to follow different paths. Each zone provides several links. Harebrained tales take the visitor through the wacky worlds of The Runaway, Plaground Motel, Grand Livre des Sports and On the Road. One may also obtain codes to access hidden pages. (Elfe) (requires Internet Explorer 3.0/Netscape Communicator 4.05) M.T. Greg Garvey Gender Bender 1996-7 This interactive work presents a questionnaire purporting to analyse the femininity or masculinity of the personality. The participant answers a string of twenty questions similar to those one could find in the tests of the same kind given by popular magazines. Each answer is immediately categorized and rendered in a visually and audibly amusing fashion. The predictable and stereotypical aspects of the answers provided quickly show the absurdity of the test. In this respect, the work is concerned with some of the behaviour that the interactive online process can give rise to: confession, search for self, the possibility of forging a new identity. It also alludes to the often stereotypical content that one finds on the Net. (requires Shockwave) S.P. Rory Hamilton Arrivals/Departures 1997 In this project, the artist establishes a correspondence between the Internet and the airport. The airport in fact becomes a city where travellers are registered, checked, sent to their final destinations. There is an abundance of information and the air flights are controlled. On the other hand, the Internet allows one to travel the world in a controlled system that sends information to other computers, where it will be viewed, saved, printed. As in the airport, the Internet traveller must often wait before arriving at the intended destination. Arrivals/Departures shows the similarities between these two worlds by mixing their symbols and procedures. The visitor then becomes a passenger in this virtual airport, an experience surprisingly akin to surfing the Internet. (Montage Gallery, Derby and the University of Derby) M.T. Michel Lefebvre and Eva Quintas Liquidation 1998 Michel Lefebvre and Eva Quintas designed and adapted their project for a variety of media: radio, the World Wide Web, CD-Rom, the printed book. This multimedia photo-romance was aired on Radio-Canada's culture FM station in January 1998. In the Web version, the three episodes of Liquidation make skillful use of Net resources to create a suspenseful mood redolent of thrillers and comic books. The work tells a fantastical story that revolves around the problem of the debt, an obsessive concern of our governments that the artists subject to derision. The exaggerated expressions, the costumes of another time, the caricatures, the color-tinted black and white photography, all recall a bygone era, suggestive of silent films, for instance. In this way, the work underlines the incipient nature of the Internet, its limits. Moreover, the richness of the writing and high quality of the photography certainly add to the enjoyment of viewing this work. Liquidation was selected for inclusion among the electronic works presented at the Biennale de Montréal 1998. (requires RealAudio) S.P. Zoe Leoudaki Fear 1998 This work greets the visitor with the image of an open book. It is suggestive of the personal diary and appears to divulge the artist's private thoughts. On the inner pages of this book, the carefully handwritten menu guides us into a private world. Torn scraps of paper on which are inscribed the sections of the site remind us of the intimate nature of the work. The site's visual quality is outstanding. Indeed, all the finely rendered details of the site contribute to creating an atmosphere of intimacy, of confidence in the other. As the title suggests, there is an edge of fear in the apprehension of what this means for each individual. A form invites the visitor to divulge his fears, though he is free to remain anonymous. Each confession is classified according to country in a searchable database. What emerges from a reading of these confessions is the universal aspect of fear in all its forms. This work was selected as one of the Web projects featured in the event ISEA98revolution. (opticom) S.P. Erwin Redl Truth is a moving target 1997 The phrase truth is a moving target appears on the screen and is the point of departure for the work. On clicking the words in this sentence, other phrases materialize, either vertically or horizontally. The grid progressively fills with words that take on different meanings according to the orientation given by the reader. The words, groups of words, and sentences concern art, language, representation, intimacy, existence; and all these themes end up overlapping and connecting thanks to the visitor's participation. Thus, every time one of these words is targeted, the grid takes on a new face. Certain utterances remain vague, incomplete, and require more investment on the part of the reader, invited to complete them with her own content. The quest for truth, to which the title refers, requires motion, shifting one's aim, taking account of new contexts, and an inner involvement. (C3, requires Shockwave) S.P. Igor Stromajer "b.ALT.ica" 1998 This site is a creation of intim@ virtual base / generation 002, the brainchild of Slovenian artist Igor Stromajer. "b.ALT.ica." is a work that takes the visitor into the Great Beyond. Right at the start, the visitor is told that the work is dedicated to the artist's father, now living at "b.ALT.ica", the world at the end of time. Navigation is made easy enough through symbols appearing on screen, clicking on which allows the visitor to discover a world of many faces. This world does not represent any physical space, nor are there any time zones, though anti-virus protection is recommended. As the visit progresses, the viewer makes connections between the two worlds, which are in fact one and the same. (requires Netscape Communicator 4.0) M.T. Helen Thorington, Marianne Petit, John Neilson Solitaire 1998 Solitaire is an experience that combines the pleasure of playing cards with the challenge of telling a story. The visitor is given the opportunity to give the deck of cards a virtual shuffle. She is then given a series of three cards. Clicking on one of the cards makes a springs up a drawing together with a short phrase. The visitor is then free to either change the card for another or to keep it to form her own story. A great variety of texts is available so as to facilitate the creation of any number of stories. If the Joker is selected, the visitor may write her own text onto the card, and that text is automatically added to the collection. When the story is finished, and signed, it is sent to the site's virtual gallery, where all the stories thus created are exhibited. In surfing, one only has follow one's whim to discover an array of stories. The work demonstrates that the surfing experience is always a solitary one, whence the use of the game. Interactivity is all the more interesting here in that it allows one to create. (Turbulence) (requires Shockwave) M.T. Stephen Turbek Complicity 1998 An alert message springs up, and the visitor thinks there's been a mistake. He tries to back out of the site, and finds it's impossible. He must therefore read and approve each message if we wants to move ahead. By this process, the artist alerts the viewer that something unusual is happening. He presents a humorous take on the difficulties people encounter in the day-to-day while attempting to abide by their personal values. Whether or not the visitor agrees with the messages displayed in the alert boxes, he has no other choice but to approve by clicking "OK". He thereby becomes accomplice to what's told. The work is short, and its use of interactivity conveys our passivity in regard to social conventions as they influence our everyday lives. (Borderequalzero) M.T. Reviewed by Sylvie Parent and Magalie Tremblay.
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