Artist Statement

“Reality is only a convention that almost never coincides with what is tangible around us. A large part of what we consider reality, including those closest and nearest to us, is nothing but the product of self-deceit, whether induced by the “system” or not. Thus the word “reality” is no more than a panacea, a great Pandora’s box. This idea has inspired this video installation, entitled “Pandora’s Box (revisited)”. It is set in a black box, a revisited Pandora’s box in which unreality supplants, not reality as such, but unrealities that have been presented to us as reality. The viewer will visit this black box and see a small black checker – a metaphor for the cosmic chessboard, in which the fragment is all. Two video projections operating as windows show us what is inside and what is outside of Pandora’s box. There is no physical contact between the characters living in the videos, but they are connected by their behavior. They exchange experiences, they practice sexual rituals, and they even reproduce.” _ Jose Carlos Casado & Harkaitz Cano, from the article “Reality”, Artificial Reproduction and Sexuality. Leonardo Award of Excellence 2001. Leonardo Journal. MIT.

• J. Carlos Casado is a multimedia artist from Spain currently working in New York. Casado uses technologies to create Installations that involve video, 3D animation and interactivity. He’s shown his work in several solo and group shows in Spain, Canada, Croatia, Finland, Britain, Italy, Ukraine and USA. He’s won several prices and recognitions for his work. To name a few: Grant from Picasso Foundation, Scholarship from LaCaixa Foundation, and the Leonardo Excellence Award, from MIT. His first short animation was selected in 5 International Festivals, including Sundance. His work has been recently publised on the cover of Leonardo, by MIT Press.