Our reality is shifting, seeping in and out of screens, sliding on and offline. This season will see the launch of our Fresh Takes commissions, by artists Sian Fan, Rebecca Jagoe and Vishal Kumaraswamy.
Our reality is shifting, seeping in and out of screens, sliding on and offline. We drift from kitchen table to online conference room, keep our bodies healthy by streaming workouts on our phones, teach our children in living rooms through screens. There is no longer a separate IRL in a world where our physical and digital identities have become inseparable.
So how do we navigate this paradigm shift, how do we care for each other and what are the parameters that shape our experiences on and offline? Through this digital programme, Site explores the merging of our digital and physical realities in this new existence.
This season will see the launch of our Fresh Takes commissions, by artists Sian Fan, Rebecca Jagoe and Vishal Kumaraswamy. They have developed new performance based work made to engage with the specificities of online space and expand the understanding of performance. While we are unable to access our usual sites of physical connection and are instead connected to the world through our online platforms, how do we engage with the typically physical interaction of performance? What can an online platform offer that we can’t do in person?
Following a family workshops open call, Site Gallery’s young people’s programme The Society of Explorers have also programmed a series of online workshops. The group selected workshops inspired by artists’ practice that intend to push the boundaries of collaboration and learning over Zoom. Join Enam Gbewonyo for The Art of Handweaving, take part in a risograph mail art exchange with Bolton Contemporary, create your own digital avatars with Digital Moo or turn your Zoom window into a performance space with Soraya Nabipour.
Throughout Digital Realness and beyond, Site Gallery is looking for community groups and charities who would benefit from access to photography, digital and new media workshops. If you would like to discuss adding a digital element to your activities and would like to collaborate with us, please get in touch.
We start this programme by asking questions and hosting discussions with artists, thinkers and audiences.
Digital Realness opens on our website from March 2021.
Press Release, 04.03.21
