Art Post 9.15.10

            Shadow Glare (2010) created by Erin Shirreff takes the mundane daily experience of using a computer and becoming captivated in it's on screen world  and suddenly being jarred back to reality by an unwanted and obtrusive speck of dust, shadow, or glare on the screen that reminds you that you are not apart of the online world. People constantly lose theirselves in computers, either by spending mindless hours just searching the web or wasting time on social networking pages. The construct of time almost doesn't exist until you are reminded of the reality you are ACTUALLY apart of, the world outside of the computer screen. Usually what will jar people back to reality is the realization of something on their screen. "Shirreff’s motivation for developing Shadow, Glare, however, stems from those moments when the screen’s material presence becomes impossible to ignore, when dust accumulations, errant smudges, and the movement of shadows and glares disturb the illusion of transparency."
                          
                Shirreff discusses the captivating aspects contained within the computer screen that compete for your attention, whether it be a blinking notification or a new email, or multiple screens open, you are not going to be paying attention to the surface of the screen until it is completely necessary and you can no longer ignore the obtrusion, ie shadow. "Without altering the computer's normal operations, the program renders a morphing series of translucent forms that seem to float between the screen's real surface and the immaterial desktop." By having the program gradually shift and interfere with what's on screen, it interrupts the viewers focus and emulates what usually happens when on the computer. The user momentarily becomes aware of his surroundings. Thus, the shift in attention from the desktop to its actual screen characterizes the experience of working at a computer.

      
              I found the idea that this project purposefully distances itself from the type of art shown in a gallery enticing. Shadow Glare is not meant for close observation, and instead operates between the multiple levels of awareness that are encouraged by a computer interface. Shadow Glare is the first work Shirreff has designed  for the digital viewing, but it is fundamental to the type of work she usually develops. She calls her work "hybrid scenarios". It explores how two dimensional media like photography and video shape our encounter with sculptures and architecture. Shadow Glare ties into this inquiry by bringing to our attention the "hybrid scenario" of the complex negotiation we often enter unthinkingly, between the real and virtual space of computers.

        I feel like this is an interesting concept, but I personally do not find this to be "art". I consider it more of a visual way of understanding a conceptually interesting social concept, or construct, that has been brought about by the 21st Century and societies addiction to technology. Though I would not call Shirreff my favorite digital media artist, I would like to continue to follow his/her work.

http://canopycanopycanopy.com/9/shadow__glare
http://www.rhizome.org/