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Socio Political art in the digital realm|ori kleiner


Matt Siber's Floating Logos

Even when assuming digital existence, socio-politically engaged art is not required to be interactive in order to justify its server space. The Internet provides us with the ultimate means of dissemination. Artwork that is available online has the potential of reaching a wide global audience, whether it provokes user interaction or not.

Calling to mind familiar modernist images like those of René Magritte's "magic realism," Matt Siber’s photographic images, entitled Floating Logos, use simple photo-retouching techniques to defy gravity. Elevating commercial signs and billboards to a metaphysical existence, visually alluding to religious apparitions, the result is a tongue-in-cheek commentary about the cult of consumerism and its manifestation in the public sphere. In an article entitled "Religiosity in the Abandoned Apple Newton Brand Community" published in the March 2005 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research, authors Albert M. Muñiz, Jr. and Hope Jensen Schau write about brand communities:

"Clear examples of brand communities have been found in cars (Bronco, Jeep, Saab, Volkswagen), computers (Macintosh, Newton) and even science-fiction (Star Trek, Star Wars, Xena: Warrior Princess, X-Files). All of these brand communities have been demonstrated to be capable of producing transformative experiences in their consumers and all have traces of magic, religion or the supernatural,"

Having his work float in the digital public sphere allows the artist to gain exposure and engage in a dialogue with individuals viewing his work online. Multiple web communities anchored in various websites currently link to the project, thereby increasing its reach to even greater audiences.

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