Sunday, January 16, 2005
‘Intimachine’ weds man, his mechanisms
On an ordinary desk, a clipboard and computer monitor sit poised to record the comings and goings of strangers. A placard reads: ‘’All visitors please sign in.’’ As they do, a surveillance camera tracks their movements. The scene, typical of many office and government building lobbies, becomes decidedly atypical if the visitor makes any abrupt motion. Then the screen flashes red, and the camera darts and quivers, turning its gaze anywhere but on the offending intruder. The threat level - as measured in real time on the Dell monitor - clearly has jumped, but it’s the surveillance camera that reacts anxiously.
’’(In)Security Camera’’ is one of a half-dozen works featured in ‘’Intimachine,’’ a high-tech show that explores intimacy and human behavior at Art Interactive in Cambridge through Jan. 30. Some of the pieces - such as ‘’(In)Security Camera’’ by Benjamin Chang, Silvia Ruzanka and Dmitry Strakovsky - wittily blur the distinction between a machine’s response and that of a person. Others extract a more contemplative experience from the interaction between the animate and inanimate. Of course, any exhibition focusing on new media also invites questions about the nature of art and beauty in the 21st century.