Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 16
Spatial Narratives in Art
Simona Lodi
16.1
Introduction
A whole new scene is emerging. Starting with the question: if the concept
of data-space has become a paradigm for contemporary society, what are the
implications for art? The works of artists who use augmentation, information and
immersion in specific contexts—public or private spaces— have the goal to create
interventionist actions and collective experiences within an experimental augmented
framework. These artists play on ambiguities in defining what reality is—how it is
perceived, felt and detected. The aim of the analysis is to understand socio-cultural
transformations in the fields of art and technology in social space, and what new
forms of aggregation and participation have developed, providing an opportunity
to reflect on new concepts of democracy that are emerging in our global saturated
media age.
Recently Gibson described things this way: “Cyberspace has everted. It has
turned inside out. Colonized the physical.” (Gibson
2010
)
Let's begin with the symbolic work “The Apparition of the Unicorn, Pink and
Invisible at the Same Time” by the artist collective Les Liens Invisible, in which
“Art overtakes Faith in imagination.” (Les Liens Invisible
2011
)(seeFig.
16.1
).
These prankster artists took the phenomenon of web-based parody religions
to produce a humorous intervention that breaks the law at the same time. Using
augmented reality, they brought about an event that people on the Internet had long
been waiting for: the apparition of the Invisible Pink Unicorn, a legendary figure
that first appeared on the Net in the early 1990s as an eminent deity to satirize
theistic belief. In the words of Steve Eley “Invisible Pink Unicorns are beings of
