New Work: Stuck Online

I recently completed a video titled Stuck Online.  I’m really excited about the piece because I think it really captures who I am as an artist and the kind of work I make.  Below are some screen shots, but you can view the entire video on my site, by clicking here.

2008
video in web browser
8 minutes 12 seconds

I’m continuing my work with online identity, and I thought I’d actually put myself online—literally!  I constructed a set and recorded myself (without audio) trying to escape.  Because the video is meant to be viewed in a web browser, the concept of the piece is that I’m actually existing on the Internet, and trying to escape the frame of the video, the clutches of the web browser window, and ultimately, the Internet itself. 

Do you ever get that feeling where you’re stuck online?  For one person, reading some blogs, looking at friends’ Facebook pages, or chatting via IMs can be fun and time doesn’t exist.  For someone else, one minute he’s signing on to Gmail to check his E-mail and the next minute it’s five hours later and he has no idea where the time went.  I’ve heard it from so many people: “I’m addicted to Facebook.”  Like most addictions, there’s the occasional wish to break the habit and I think this video really exemplifies that.

On Gus23.com, where Stuck Online is posted, I displayed the video so that it automatically played in your browser window (granted you have Quicktime to properly view the video) without any means of controlling the video—no pause, rewind, nor fast-forward.  One reason for this was so that you didn’t have a sense of time.  My friend pointed out that he felt ‘trapped’ as well because he couldn’t control the video.  I really liked that comment because I always try to get the viewer to experience my reality, so when my material and display choices make that happen, my mission is accomplished.  I also like that when I compressed the video to show online, it lost some sharpness in quality, but gained a familiar grainy quality that the majority of YouTube videos posses, making it truly part of the web.

However, I also posted the video on my Facebook profile and it displays a little differently.  It is smaller and therefore sharper in quality.  Because it’s posted on an actual branded site, it translates into an escape from Facebook—which is cool.  But also, there’s the controller that allows you to pause and what not.  Though it’s unintentional to have that there (it’s an automatic feature by Facebook), the publicity of having the video on Facebook is very important for me—I gotta show my work!

Lastly, I should mention that I get such a kick out of acting.  It might not be an Oscar nominated performance, but I do enjoy throwing myself—body and emotions—into something fun like this.  Yes, I might break down crying, but in the end, it’s fun to ‘go there’.  I like to perform!  And the costuming is intentional.  My clothing is everyday looking clothing that I would wear (and do) because being online is just an everyday activity that doesn’t require any fancy attire.

I think the idea is a rather simple concept that I wanted to share.  I’m definitely guilty of wishing I could get offline.  And again, to clarify what being ‘online’ means, to me it’s the idea that you need to feel connected to the Internet at all times.  I’m not a fan of being online all the time, though I constantly joke about the fact that I am.  But I’m really not, as is my choice to stay far from an iPhone or Blackberry for the time being.  I told myself that until the day I can have a computer and the Internet implanted in my body, I will stay online when I’m at my desktop computer and unplug when I am away from it.  Easier said than done, right?