Beam Me Up: Net art on an Indian frequency

"If you are the true child of popular culture," says independent curator Gitanjali Dang, "then you ought to have uttered the words, beam me up, scotty!, on more than one occasion. we have all variously opened the door to scotty and happily let him in. because in the bigger picture that flashes on the lcd, with backlight led, we are the servers and the clients. and that really is why we have congressed here in cyberspace seeking interface by way of virtuality."

To paraphrase Dang, in the virtual world where all representation and communication exists within the framework of networks, two artists Abhishek Hazra and Vishal Rawlley have familiarized themselves with "the employment of certain thingamajigs" such as hardware and software, automated attendants and microblogging to explore the very notion of representation and communication.

The Beam Me Up_Project India is a combination of the performative and the conceptual. Rawlley's project goes live on Saturday, March 20, 2010. Abhishek will do a collaborative online performance from 2-4pm. Rawlley's project will be live online till April 20.

Hauz-i-Shamsi by Vishal Rawlley

Hauz-i-Shamsi, a water reservoir, built by Iltumish -- who ruled Delhi in the 13th century -- still holds water in Mehrauli. Legend has it that it was in a dream that Prophet Muhammad revealed where Iltumish should build the reservoir. On inspecting the site, Iltumish is said to have found a hoof print of Muhammad’s horse (Burak); around this he erected the reservoir. Hauz-i-Shamsi will now be presented online via webcam. A mobile sculpture of Burak will float on it waters and visitors, in the vicinity and online, will be able to interact with the Burak through phone or web.

Vishal Rawlley holds a diploma in film and video communication. He started his career as a storyboard artist for feature films, going on to make documentary films, while also practicing as a graphic designer and new-media artist. Working as a media-practitioner for over a decade, he is actively engaged in research and experimentation in areas of popular media and urban sub-culture. Bombay Arts is his website.

Log on to Hauz-i-Shamsi at Beam Me Up_Project India

#cloudrumble by Abhishek Hazra

"if all goes well," says Hazra, "i should have a data connection to an artists’ performance this saturday, march 20. as part of the performance, cantordust will try to conjecture on dr. cloudrumble saha’s tenure at delhi’s legendary ionization chamber from 1952 to 1956. during these years dr.cloudrumble, who was otherwise famous for sticking a thermometer into the sun’s belly, demonstrated to the august members of the ionization chamber, the planned way to swim through a river in full spate. cantordust might rehearse some of saha’s moves while weaving an asymptotic life jacket for himself and his participant-observer-livetweetmakers."

Abhishek's work explores the intersections between technology and culture through animated shorts and performance pieces that often integrate textual fragments drawn from real and fictional scenarios. He is also interested in the social history of scientific practices in colonial India. A brief overview of some of his works can be found here: abhishekhazra.blogspot.com

To participate in generating "me", please ping me at cloudrumble.livetweet@gmail.com or to view the twitter performance search for #cloudrumble56 on twitter.com