Internet-based exhibition is a virtual stunner

“Looking at art on the Internet can’t compare to seeing it in person, but what if the art is Internet-based? The Boston group Turbulence has been promoting Internet art for a decade; it sponsors New England Initiative, a competition that awards a commission and an exhibition in real space, as well as on the Web.

“New England Initiative II” can be seen live at Art Interactive, and that’s still the best way to view it. You can also check it out virtually at turbulence.org/ne2/awards.html.

The three works are bigger and more engrossing in the gallery than they are on a personal computer. This is particularly true of John Snavely’s “WhoWhatWhenAir,” a giant tangle of pneumatic valves that looks like a squid with 16 left feet; it can’t move without tripping over itself. Each of those long, black tubular valves, ordinarily used in industrial settings, can pull up to a ton. The viewer — either in the gallery or remotely from home — can control the way in which the valves expand and contract, and choreograph the sculpture’s movements…” Continue reading Rapt in a fine Web of interactive art: Internet-based exhibition is a virtual stunner by Cate McQuaid, Globe Correspondent, December 28, 2006.