Inhabiting the Interstice or Why We Never Dream of the Internet

“In the two-channel video installation “Inhabiting the Interstice or Why We Never Dream of the Internet”, Liv Burkhard and Kim da Motta examine the transitions and boundaries between the real and virtual worlds. To do so, they themselves enter zones of transition. For several months, they conducted a dialog in an instant messaging service. At the same time, they reactivated their accounts in Second Life. This virtual platform was launched in 2003 and promised a complete parallel world: communication, consumption, entertainment - everything was supposed to be possible here. The marketing departments of cities created virtual images of real cities, companies hoped that a presence in Second Life would generate additional sources of income and users continued to build the world as a 3D model.

In the two-part video installation by Liv Burkhard and Kim da Motta, Second Life appears as a copy of the real world. And it remains disparate: it conveys the irritations of an imitation and yet aims to enable a real experience in a virtual space. It formulates a representational world and yet is only a copy of it. These ruptures are a central theme in the conversation between the two artists, and they concern not only the difference between simulation and original, between online and offline, but also the influences of digitalisation on existence in the here and now.”

Excerpt from Kristin Schmidt’s exhibition text on the exhibition at AUTO St. Gallen