Author / firewallcafe

‘Together’ is a word which carries unusually poignant resonances right now in the midst of a global pandemic. The fact that churches worldwide forewent assembling for celebrations of Pentecost—that day of great gathering together of God’s Spirit and the nations—serves as a case-in-point for our situation.

Home Alone Together: We are told that home is where the heart is, but also that, while we can travel the world in search of what we need, we must return home in order to find it. Home has been described as the centre and circumference, the start and finish, of most of our lives. That may be particularly so at this time, in both its constraining and revelatory senses. Home can be a place of abuse which it is imperative to leave but may also be a shelter from storms and the place where our most important work is done.

In the exhibition REDIRECT, the inherent risks of our social media landscape—exposure, error, loss—are reflected through installations by seven artists who approach contemporary technology both deliberately and cautiously.

Tiger Strikes Asteroid, a network of artist-run spaces in several U.S. cities, aims “to collectively bring people together, expand connections and build community through artist-initiated exhibitions, projects and curatorial opportunities.” Curated by Suzanne Dittenber, the Greenville, S.C., chapter’s REDIRECT show at Revolve’s RAMP Gallery furthers that goal with work that “critically or philosophically engages with technology” and finds each artist “examining the web, social media, mobile devices or other contemporary technology with a calculated sense of intentionality or caution.”

I was interviewed by James Coomarasamy of BBC Sounds