13 Jan 2009

BridA / Tom Kerševan, Jurij Pavlica, Sendi Mango

BridA's most recent project, also presented at the Mestna galerija Ljubljana, is entitled Information Accelerator; it unites and combines the processes of transmitting and receiving information, of directing and channeling it in an extensive system of tubes or pipes. This module spans the entire gallery as some kind of conduit, making the flow and processing of all kinds of information possible. In BridA's words 'such a structure can be compared to a traditional drawing resembling a network of wires and channels. In such case, the drawing would be understood as a topographical grid for combining information in diverse ways, multiplying it, dividing it, adding it up and subtracting it, drawing the path to the final message in some sort of system of coordinates.' Information Accelerator is a system of pipes, a duct, or an installation consisting of all the necessary equipment for such a device to work. It contains elements for observing the exterior world and for contacts with it (e.g. control monitors, interactive switches, sound units, microcontrollers for monitoring and guiding various operations).

The gallery-length system of tubes will conduct, process, and above all accelerate information by increasing the tensions and the pressures with the aid of various mechanical, visual, and audio devices. Information as the essence of the message conveyed by this visual, sound, and mechanical device will remain manipulated and be transformed into new processed and purified sound and visual forms. BridA continuously focuses on the possibilities of information, discovering the boundaries or the areas where information fuses with artistic intervention and acquires an a-personal character, independent of the subject. The point of interest is the moment of reaction or response, when information becomes pure and independent artistic expression, mediated by the device, but at the same time emancipated and pure artistic speech. BridA points out that 'the installation tries to present the various possibilities of manipulating information in the artistic process, of emphasizing its material presence by presenting it through matter, fluid, or gas. We try to materialize it by simulating its exposure to mechanical and chemical processing. At the same time, the installation speaks about the flow and the directing of information, which in this specific case acquires the image of matter, and of its energy potential, both positive and negative. Its existence appears to be undefined and compressed into a network of conductors, wires, and channel systems, which together only intensify the tension and the expectation. Information travels past us; we can capture some pieces, and only indirectly feel others.' The large tube system in the gallery is the traveling of (physically indeterminable) matter that functions under certain pressure; with great force it squeezes sounds (rumbling, puffing, and wheezing), warmth, and even smell out of the matter, which secures the individual perception of random visitors. At the same time, this constitutes creating the tension of currents of information, with the issue being, rather than their interpretation, the underscoring of information values, their ubiquitous presence around us and, of course, primarily their immense impact on our day-to-day activities and life in general.

Information Accelerator is a tangible and very graphic sound and visual anatomy of one possible current of information. In addition to the device there will be graphic presentations of the electronic circuits, enriched with a variety of symbols and contents that also dictate diverse possibilities for the flow of information, the entire process of the messages traveling with all the data, commands, and transitions through the mysterious world of sound, picture, and word. With its precise synthetic-analytical approach to art, the group BridA finds its creative paths in the sphere of the latest contemporary art. In it the social concept too is open for the latest meanings: the systems and values of information create close bonds between artists and science and artists and social sensitivity; the field of mutual influences is very strong and develops ceaselessly.

Sarival Sosič