[aha] Fwd: really [this show is rented] Second Life and Redhead Gallery, Toronto

[roberta buiani]

greetings from toronto

Begin forwarded message:
>
> really [this show is rented]
>
> Redhead Gallery, 401 Richmond Street, Toronto, ON
> Heldscalla Foundation, Second Life, Heldscalla, Buttemere
> (66, 129, 23)
>
> November 21, 2007 – December 15, 2007
> Reception: Saturday, December 1, 2007, noon – 5 pm (EST),
> “Dress Like Your Avatar” Day (no avatar? dress like yourself)
>
> There are no toilets in Second Life (SL). It is a somewhat weird  
> and flat world, with a decidedly photoshopped, airbrushed  
> aesthetic. Most of the time you are alone in huge shopping malls  
> full of sex-crazed clothing options and body parts. Often the place  
> feels like a deserted ghost town rather than a world teeming with 9  
> million members. One of the most unnerving of SL characteristics is  
> its unpredictable spirit. Internet speed lags result in strange,  
> glitchy motion, slow communication and bizarre physics. A feeling  
> of ambivalence and superficiality permeates. At any time you can  
> quit / log-off / teleport with a button click. Unlike First Life  
> (FL), you can just leave.
>
> As much as possible, I’ve rented all the components for this  
> installation – lights, projectors, streaming server, classic office- 
> accessory rubber-plants and space. I intend for all these ‘by the  
> week’ artifacts to underline the transitory nature of virtual  
> existence.
>
> Rented plants are a particularly critical part of this work.  
> Redhead will be filled with tropical plants usually found in office  
> lobbies. Rentable landscaping plays a largely unnoticed role in  
> filling our daily lives with a vague semblance of the outdoors - a  
> marker of our idealization of nature. This flora is the stand-in  
> for nature in our everyday lives and will become even more so  
> situated within the hermetic world of the art gallery.
>
> Lynne Heller, Toronto based artist and designer, works in a variety  
> of disciplines. Principally known for her work in fibre, she also  
> has created new media pieces, sound, websites and installations.  
> Heller completed her MFA at the School of the Art Institute of  
> Chicago in 2004. Group exhibitions include, The Stray Show, (Art  
> Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA), Wide Borders, Heller, Roy & Thiessen,  
> (Burlington Art Centre, Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery, Cambridge  
> Library & Gallery). Her solo exhibitions have been shown both  
> nationally and internationally (Havana, Cuba; Chicago, USA; Santa  
> Fe, USA). She is currently a member of Redhead Gallery, Toronto.
>
> http://lynneheller.com
>
> Nar Duell hasn’t done much in her short life but she does own a  
> great wardrobe.
>
> Oh hang on - Abaris Brautigan just reminded me that Nar also  
> attended an epic quest to the edge of the world and thereby  
> participated in an allegorical act of electrate thinking!
>
> Info: Peter Kingstone, director - 416-504-5654, art at redheadgallery.org
> Media contact: Susan Procter, procter.susan at sympatico.ca, 416-588-5756
> Hours: Wed – Sat, noon – 5pm (EST)
> Website: http://lynneheller.com/really
>
>
>