Some people can feel trapped by the internet.
But a group of Hackney artists has found an unusual way of breaking free from it, by locking themselves in a metal cage.
Four artists will swear off social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to create art the old-fashioned way, producing work with only the tools they have brought with them while locked in an installation designed by artist Yuri Patterson.
The Goldsmiths graduate from Dublin has built a Faraday Cage, a device invented by English scientist Michael Faraday in 1836 that blocks external static and non-static electric fields.
The cage will effectively cancel out all internet signals, including Wi-Fi and 3G, “if we can get it to work by Friday,” Yuri admits.
“I am fascinated by the scientific side of it. Essentially though, it’s a way to think about traditional artistic production versus new technology.”
The group of artists will use the cage as a temporary studio for four days from this Friday, aiming to provoke debate about society’s dependence on the internet.
Yuri’s work mixes photography, sculpture and video. He usually relies heavily on technology: “My last exhibition was live blogged on Tumblr and then edited for the show. Cutting myself off like this is a way to talk about the theme of technology.”
For the exhibition, he has asked Richard Sides, Matthew Drage & Ben Vickers, Your Body is a Temple, Kosmas/Keller and Paul B. Davis to produce work without the crutch of the internet.
The results include a musical, a performance with Hang-style folk drums and a digital hologram. Ben Vickers and Matthew Drage will be holding a focus group on internet addiction on Saturday, where visitors are invited to a question-and-answer session about society’s relationship with the internet.
Yuri has also reconsidered his own use of technology. He said: “I think I will use the cage as a studio in future. But I won’t be changing my work.”
Yuri Pattison: Faraday Cage opens at Space Gallery on Friday 15 March and closes on 18 March. Doors 6pm, performances 8pm.
