In cyberspace, personal desires, fears and secrets are put into another context and experienced differently. E-mail, the electronic way of communicating, contains elements of traditional media, but expresses itself in a completely individual way. It is precisely the combination of real-time interactivity and the unlimited space to operate which is given to the powers of imagination of the individual, that makes virtual contact extremely specific; (the woman next door has just got a new friend after a very candid electronic episode, and an acquaintance has recently put a computer ‘full stop’ behind his impossible love after countless, sensitive mailings). Prompted by personal experiences and based on authentic conversation material from many dates on the Internet, Mirage reconstructs an on-line relationship between two people in this installation and lets the viewer witness it. The viewer takes his place before a built in screen in a stylized spatial decor and activates (unconsciously, without a mouse) a written dialogue on the screen. There is no question of interaction in the sense of participation, the exchange of ideas does well on its own. The essence of the cyber conversation being held, lies in the development of emotional involvement via the Net. How it all starts openly and relaxed and how it can ultimately run aground because of unattainable expectations; the virtual problem where intimacy suffices, but physicality is excluded. Only by separating body and mind can human feelings achieve the desired development in a virtual space. Then cyberspace could possibly be an attractive space where the spirit can freely flutter about, like a butterfly. For the time being we see a symbolic animation of that little flying insect, trying desperately to get out of virtuality.
– Marieke van Hal
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Computer, 2 monitors, table, chair, palm trees
Raw video footage Thomas Kutschker, computer animation Jordi Moragues, Sound Moore, Kiefer, Schipke, special effects Rudi Opalla, video compression Anselm Weidman, Thanks to Ministerium für Stadtentwicklung, Kultur und Sport des landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, Nokia München, Kunsthochschule für Medien, Köln
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