Panel Statement

Panel: Revolution of the Public Sphere

In an era where an increasing number of cultural forms are shifting into the emergent digital media such as the Internet and CD ROM, numerous questions arise from these practices vis-a-vis our reco(r)ding of these events and their place as engrams in the cultural memory. The creation and experience of the arts in the digital age is moving from the exhibition of art as material trace of a process to that of performative act. Secondly, media such as CD ROM create technological difficulties related to the obsolescence of said media. Paul Virilio states that technology is compressing all societal constructs including time and the acceleration of technological production itself. From this, we are presented with the challenge of presenting works that may be ephemeral due to software and hardware incompatibility problems. This, in sense, likens the dawn of the digital arts to the classical period of drama, in which many plays were written, but only a handful survive.

• Patrick Lichty (USA), Artist, Ohio