The Presence
The Presence, 2023, found loom, 3d printed plastic, cotton, ink, compressed air and artificial intelligence 100 x 150 x 200cm
“Wherever you are, be there totally” - Ekhart Tolle
Where am I? Physically, I’m here. Mentally, I’m somewhere else. Digitally, I’m everywhere. The Presence is an interactive kinetic sculpture that explores the relationship between our physical and digital selves.
There’s just one me and one you, but online our presence becomes complex. Social platforms attempt to replicate facets of presence in different ways - bodily movement becomes a pin on a map, action becomes a status update, emotional response becomes a “like” or “share” while snapshots of the self fit in a neat little square.
The digital realm holds many fragments of “self”, geographically distributed, wildly accessible, searchable and always on. These fragments are a version of the past self, existing in perpetuity, ready to be re-activated as others scroll past.
On approach, The Presence senses you are here, and responds. Physical and digital presence are united on an endless feed of canvas, scrolled in perpetuity, accruing marks in response to bodily movement. We are left with a physical artefact of those who have scrolled before us, and those who will scroll past us.
As viewers move through the space The Presence invites them to reflect on their own relationship with technology and consider the interwoven nature of our physical and digital selves.
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The artist would like to acknowledge Stelarc (artistic mentor) and Adam Jenkins (robotics mentor) for their contributions to this project. The Presence is made possible through the support of Arts SA and FELTspace, developed during sponsored residency at Praxis Artspace.
