‘You can get lost in sweeping virtual worlds. I like to bring technology back into our physical world, using offline as a basis.’ – Ksawery Kirklewski
Technology is becoming more invisible. Screens and phones are thinner, and the cables that carry our data are buried out of sight. Ksawery Kirklewski’s ENTER brings to light a usually imperceptible process of data capturing that goes on while we upload selfies. Consisting of 80 12 meter LED strips that snake their way up to the ceiling, points of light along its length form a blown up picture of your image. A high speed camera (120fps), feeds back movement in real time creating a digital mirror effect. This pixel-esque version of you references the low resolution aesthetic of the 80s video games Kirklewski grew up with – a gamified quality that highlights our participation in the creation of new virtual worlds.
Accented by the live generated soundscape designed by Arkadiusz Krupiński, we get to meet our digital doppelgangers as our every move triggers new compositions. Together, the audiovisual spectacle comes to life like a grand digital instrument, played in part – by you.
Charmed by digital effects on our own image, like Greek Mythology’s Narcissus, who famously fell into a lake mirroring his own reflection – do you think we’ll become cyber organisms in love with ourselves? Or will we withstand technology’s mesmerising allure and manage to balance virtual and physical realities?
Text written by Julia-Beth Harris, in context of the exhibition UFO – Unidentified Fluid Other, curated by Bogomir Doringer, on view at Nxt Museum, Amsterdam.
