INVERTIGO collapses and disrupts presence in one space [the ‘real’] with presence in the other [the ‘virtual’]. This sense of bleeding between spaces grew from our experience of the internet as a space for shared artistic practice, which spanned our physical locations in 3 different cities. Body, voice, and text in proximity and distance, presence and absence, play throughout the piece.

Upon entering the gallery, the viewer encounters the screen space of a video projection which is inhabited by the ethereal presence of individuals on the web. With the presence of each new visitor to the web site, a trace of a new body appears briefly in the projection. Each 'webpresence' is also marked by numerical figures, traces of individuals' IP addresses, scrolling on a suspended monitor on the gallery's far wall. In the physical space of the gallery, a solitary swing acts as the main component and driving mechanism of the piece, spanning physical and virtual space, and acting as a feedback mechanism between the two. Through the physical act of swinging, audience members alter the video images that appear on the projection screen. As they move, the images shift between representations that evoke feelings of psychological distance and more intimate ones, flickering between a fast cut and a soft caress. Each swing arc marks time and the rhythm of movement, while conjuring up cinematic fragments and the sensations of bodily feedback. The web 'screen' space mimics this editing and generates 'webpresence' in the gallery.

Funded in part by the SOFA Gallery with Co-production assistance from the BANFF Centre.