such as text and visual material, information about the artistic working progress and video interviews. When we move outside the place of nowHere, we arrive at different wings that roughly divide 'making spaces to places' into four areas of tension. They must not be seen as dichotomies, but as axes upon which the works move.
Visible-Invisible
The phenomenon of ‘ubiquitous computing’ refers to the fact that technology is being integrated into our environment ever more ‘seamlessly’. In many cases, we no longer know where technology is concealed, let alone how we can manipulate it ourselves. Our air is full of (polluting) radiation. Artists can make these invisible networks visible, or rather tangible, in interesting ways, using maps, visualisation or photographs. In data.tron (2007) Rioji Ikeda portrays the ethereal world between 0 and 1 in an abstract, but extremely immersive installation. Visitors to Haruki Nishijima’s work catch invisible radiation waves in the air with a net, bring them back to the exhibition space and let them loose on a screen, where they swarm around like fireflies. They vary in size, sound and colour, depending on the type and intensity of the radiation. In the project routes and routines (2008), Peter Westenberg made internet walks through the city of Hasselt with visitors using technological shoes. He asked inhabitants to share their private internet connection with them during the walk. This enabled participants to register images, sounds and rays when walking along the route via their 'smart' shoes and send this data live to the exhibition space. Westenberg posed the question of how public our technological space is today.
Local-Global
Media brings the ‘global world’ a great deal closer to us. This makes artists’ strategies to reveal the rich diversity present in global society extremely valuable. Their work in this space can show us that there are still possibilities to claim our place in a world that often seems beyond our control. Traces of Autism (2005-2007) is a research project developed by Wim Cuyvers (B), Maartje Dros (NL), Jayme Yen (US), Jozua Zaagman (NL) and Jacqueline Schoemaker (NL) in the Jan Van Eyck Academy. They explore the Euregion as a city, a semi-public space. The group walked, cycled and drove through the Euregion with a number of criteria for semipublic spaces in mind, such as, for example, the
presence of gay meeting places. This resulted in a multi-dimensional map that presents a rather exotic view of what looks like a rather dull area on first sight. The fact is that a map is always subjective. Paul Casaer questions the view that the media and advertising offer of our global space. The places depicted on consumer goods present us with an utopian image of distant, beautiful locations. The installation Joyvalley (2008) plays with the brand Joyvalle, a dairy product that depicts a sunny, fertile place. He installed the word like a sculpture, stripping it of colour and pictures. It is in front of a window so that it can be seen by the city of Hasselt. Joyvalley is an installation in the public space and therefore connects the city with the inner space of the exhibition. In his photo series, (I Dropped in on Stepas, We Talked about Life, 2002-2003) Arturas Valiauga depicts a couple who collected their own global vision and living environment on the walls of their house over the years by using cuttings from newspapers and magazines. The result is a colourful collage spread throughout the entire house, like tiny windows into historical, personal, mental or ideological spaces. In his BorderXings, Heath Bunting once more questions the concept of borders. Although media images often present us with a world without borders, borders are still all too real for some people. To make these borders ‘tangible’, he physically crosses borders in different countries and with different groups. With Z33 he crossed the Dutch-Belgian and Flemish – Wallonian borders. In this way he embodies the meaning of spatial borders and brings their political connotations into the public discourse. Jeremy Wood, a gps artist, used gps to draw the flight routes that he made in the form of a pentagram in the air (Pentagram Flights, 2008). Our personal routes through the world are 'monitored' and registered in databanks increasingly often. We notice this whenever we travel by plane. Airports are places where the checks on our identity are very visible. Making our own maps of our personal routes is a way to regain control over our own lives.
Narrative-Creative
Immersive environments, interactive story-telling and maps tell us stories about our place in the space. Artists often use low-tech technologies in their work as a reaction against the glorification of technological intelligence. How these works ‘work’, is usually transparent and it is often easy to use them yourself. They offer the opportunity to shape your space yourself, thereby stimulating a ‘Do-ItYourself’ (DIY) culture. 109