This exhibition looks at our relationship with computers and other digital instruments we use to access the internet: a world without borders which only exists in the virtual dimension.

But what does virtual mean? Virtual means something which pretends to be the real world, a little like what happens in video games. The internet is a virtual space, a place which everyone can access freely and where they can share their experiences and ideas.

The ten artists presented in this exhibition talk to us about the ways we use the internet and digital technology. The internet is increasingly present in our day-to-day lives and it’s changing our habits and the ways we comunicate.

Virtual identities20 maY · 17 JULY 2011

You can have even more fun with contemporary art if you use these cards. Use the map on the back of this card to

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Drawings by Giacomo Cardelli

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A young boy named Neil is photographed while sitting at his desk in front of his computer. The only source of

light is the computer screen, which lights Neil’s face and leaves the rest of the room in darkness.

Evan Baden, Neil with PC, 2007, C-Prints on plexiglass

Virtual Identities CCC Strozzina

CCC Strozzinaroom 1

Neil with PC, 2007

The contrast between the clearly lit faces and the dark backgrounds is similar to a style of painting which was typical of a few artists in the 1600s. Do a search online for the painter Caravaggio and compare his paintings to these photos.

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These photos are part of a series called The Illuminati. By choosing this title the artist underlines the importance of light in these images. It doesn’t just illuminate the kids’ faces, it also highlights the close relationship they have with their instruments.

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Take a close look at the photo of Neil, then check out the other photographs in this room. All six photos show kids in front of technological instruments like computers, cell phones, iPods and PlayStations. Think about what role these instruments play in your own life. Which ones and how many do you own? How much time do you spend using them?

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Kids of different ages are completely absorbed by the images which are playing on a screen in front of them.

Busy playing on the computer or watching videos, each of them is completely focussed on the reality that their

monitor shows them.

Robbie Cooper, Immersion, 2008, video installation

Virtual Identities CCC Strozzina

CCC Strozzinaroom 2

Immersion, 2008

Gestures and facial expressions are ways to communicate emotions. At home, create a series of self-portraits, using photography or drawing, in which you express different emotions in each one.

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Watching this video you feel like you are right in front of the people in the art work. In order to create this effect the artist used a special technique which allowed him to place a video recorder inside the screen that these people are watching.

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The different facial expressions, the gestures, the words said and the sounds of the video suggest different feelings to the observer. Find a word to describe the state-of-mind of each person then compare your ideas to those of the people with you today.

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Thousands of videos combine to create a single larger image which is seven metres long. The noise you hear is

also a combination of all the voices of the individual videos.

Christopher Baker, Hello World! or: How I Learned to Stop Listening and Love the Noise,

2008, multi-channel video installation

Virtual Identities CCC Strozzina

CCC Strozzinaroom 3

Hello World! or: How I Learned to Stop Listening and Love the Noise, 2008

Ask your friends to make a drawing or write something about themselves on a piece of white paper. Gather all this material and glue it onto a larger sheet to create a single image, a collective portrait of all your friends.

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It wasn’t the artist who made all these videos: each one was created by the person you see in it. Each person told a story in front of a video camera and shared it online. The artist chose them and combined them to create a wall where each voice gets confused with the others.

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Try looking at this work of art from different distances. Get as far away as you can from the video: what does it seem like seen from here? Now get up close to discover the individual videos.

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Inside each of these large styrofoam balls is a memory card which holds information about a person.

All of these facts combined together inside the sphere are like the digital soul of the owner.

etoy.CORPORATION, TAMATAR, 2011, installation

Virtual Identities CCC Strozzina

CCC Strozzinaroom 11

TamaTaR, 2011

If you had to decide what to leave for the people who will live on earth 200 years from now, what would you choose? Write a list of things you would like to keep in your “memory sphere”, then seal the list inside an empty jar. Who knows if one day someone will find it and read its contents…

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Each ball holds personal information about someone, just like the information they might put on Facebook to create their profile. Here this information is protected inside a cocoon of styrofoam unlike online where it is accessible to everyone.

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What happens as you get close to these spheres? How do your ideas about these objects change knowing that inside each one there is information about a human being? Try to think about these objects as though they were actual people.

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On the wall are five videos where kids from around the world have fun dancing in the rooms of their homes.

The artist found these videos online and patiently chose a selection that showed the best, most entertaining dancers.

Natalie Bookchin, Mass Ornament, 2009, video installation

Virtual Identities CCC Strozzina

CCC Strozzinaroom 9

mass Ornament, 2009

This artist always uses material that already exists and then she combines it in new ways to create different stories. At home you can try something similar. Turn on the TV and start flipping channels. Write down the first sentence you hear on each channel. When you’ve gathered at least 15 sentences try mixing them up to create an original story.

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Natalie Bookchin chose videos online that she liked and then carefully grouped them together to create a real choreography. The final effect is like a moving puzzle. Without realising it the person in each video has become a member of a dance company.

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If you look at one person at a time they might seem a bit goofy. But if you look at all of them together you’ll discover that they are moving in time: the first one starts and the others copy the moves. Now it’s your turn! Choose a movement that follows the rhythm of the music and invent a short dance together with the people you came with.

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