Yesterday I went to A Space Gallery to see Cao Fei’s RMB City project. There is a lot going on in the work and I haven’t quite unpacked it all yet, So I reserve judgement on it for now. However the project is based in Second Life, which I find problematic. To me Second Life is a metaphor on top of a metaphor. It is a 1980s version of a digital space. It is a place you go to, where as the digital space we inhabit today is constantly all around us. Second life is a fine game/online activity/community, but when used in an artistic way it fails to express some aspects of networked society. 

In contrast I find myself attracted to Alice Leonards Movements with defective selection tool. I may be comparing apples and oranges here, as the scope of Fei and Leonard’s gestures are completely different, but there is some overlap. The selection tool is one of the most common ways we bridge the gap between physical and digital space. The form in takes in Leonards images is most often scene in art related programs such as Photoshop. When the selection tool breaks down, you cannot easily access the virtual. There is conflict, anxiety, and strife embedded in he image. It references minimalist painting, bringing with it a sense of utopia associated with Modern Art. It also hints at dystopia with its technological breakdown.  In contrast, Second Life feels like pure digital Utopia. You’re encouraged to leave your physical body behind and take up a whole new virtual one. It avoids the conflict between ones physical “meat” and the virtual layer that is wrapped around all of us. 

I find something to enjoy in both works. My own drawings take on a form closer to Cao Fei’s images than Leonards. I tend to be skeptical of Minimalist images from past decades. Its somewhat Ironic that I would prefer Leonard over Fei in this instance, however I find the digital musing going on in Leonard’s work more engaging than that of Second Life.