DISTANCE

Luce Irigaray

Women
are
the
guardians
of
communication

Ready
to
make
a
connection,
she
logs
on

Authenticating
Remote
Access
……

Her
social
network
is
dispersed,
connecting
through
wires

Her
desire
to
communicate
to
an
other
is
met
on-line

Each
encounter
occurs
in
real-time

Interaction
is
immediate

Leaving
traces
on
her
screen

There
is
a
sense
of
intimacy
here

Without
touch

He
asks:
when
will
you
be
on
again?

He
waits
for
her
response

She
imagines
his
surroundings

He
imagines
her
voice

Is
technology
a
veil?

Reflecting
back

He
contemplates
the
nature
of
her
presence

She
is
afraid
he
will
not
reply

His
mind
begins
to
drift
……

She
returns
to
herself

Extending
her
presence

He
appeals
to
her
gaze

Who
are
you
?

He
is
a
stranger
to
her

She
wants
to
know
more

He
disappears

logging
off
for
a
while

Time
unfolds

Time
runs
out

Where
do
we
go
from
here?

Searching

She
thinks
about
her
future

She
asks:
is
the
virtual,
real?

She
considers
her
response

He
reappears

Are
we
getting
closer,
or
further
apart?

She
thinks
of
him
in
the
abstract

Processed
through
technology

She
feels
out
of
place

Detached
from
the
outside
world

Everything
is
split
in
two
now

Fragmented

Slipping
out
of
focus

We
are
artifacts
in
motion

Becomming
pixels
on
the
screen

Than
I
leave
my
pixels
here

DISTANCE, explores our desire for communication, through connection and disconnection, via fluctuations in transmission and reception between geographically separated participants mediated by the surface of the screen.

This work investigates the disembodied and dislocated nature of on-line communication through a re-combination of images and text as a continued exploration of presence, absence and the desire for connectivity within a global networked environment.

The CU-SeeMee environment becomes the platform for my most recent Net-Specific Work: Distance. While photographing the windows of video and chat which appeared on my computer screen, I became a voyeur seduced into the on-line world of real-time interaction. While observing a constant stream of simultaneous video and chat an intersubjectivity emerges - a syntax unique to on-line culture.

Tina LaPorta, NYC August 1999