Originally published on July 13 2019 on Project 40 Collective’s Blog.
The initial adjective that springs to mind when reflecting on Amanda’s work is “addictive.” I found myself tumbling down the rabbit hole, incessantly clicking and restarting to explore alternate routes within Eternally Moving. The perplexing arrangement of hyperlinks scattered across the vast expanse of white space mimics a fragmented webpage, or more aptly, seems to form a deliberate scheme aimed at confounding the viewer.
The early Internet aesthetic of Amanda’s web-based art, accompanied by a seemingly existential and dystopian undertone, elicits a mixture of smirks and giggles (or both) as you navigate through an unfamiliar journey, uncertain of your destination (or purpose). When I first discovered Origin of the Net, the same cycle of falling down the rabbit hole ensued. Its game-like playfulness generates a sense of anticipation that captivates the audience/users. As I delved further into Amanda’s body of work, including animations and digital paintings, my curiosity about her creative and thought processes intensified, particularly in relation to her close engagement with technology. Dive into the insights she shares below, which also include a note from Pete the Peacock, and find out who her “favourite” Asian. Canadian artist (known for their text-based installations) is.
Tell us briefly about your creative practice. How did you get into digital and media art?
I’ve been coding ever since Neopets 2005. Remember when we had pet pages and NeoSignatures on the NeoForums and how you could customize everything with just a few simple lines of code? Neopets was my first introduction to this computer magic. As a teen, I spent way too much time on the Internet and found these weird art websites by Rafaël Rozendaal. All I thought at the time was, “hey, this is pretty cool.”
I don’t know why I didn’t pursue code after that. Maybe I was too busy drawing horses and hyper-realistic eyes instead. I ended up in art school anyways, in OCAD’s Drawing and Painting program. When I realized in 3rd year that I didn’t know what to paint anymore and that paint was expensive, I decided to code again after being inspired by Rozendaal’s web art. Additionally, websites are cheap and you don’t have to awkwardly carry them onto the subway, so digital art came out of economy for me.
During my endless journey through Eternally Moving, I stumbled upon a page that stated: “it is NOT my fault that my links ROT. i am not responsible for moving around,” prompting me to contemplate broken links, invalid pages, and the countless instances where I’ve encountered them, leading to immense frustration. By acknowledging these “broken links” and adopting a first-person narrative, you approach the Internet as a “living” entity capable of thought, regeneration, and even deception. In Internet Mythos, you describe it as a collaborative art project between yourself and the Internet. What underlying philosophy guides your interactions with and creation of art using the Internet?
I like to imagine that the Internet is an ever-growing, amorphous blob of knowledge and content. Hidden behind the scenes are bots, trackers, and web crawlers, but these aren’t things we usually think about when we’re online. Often, browsing the Internet is a passive action, so I like to make websites that talk to the user in first person, so that the user is aware that their clicks have consequences.
For Internet Mythos, I wrote that it was an art project between me and the internet because it was a collaborative story that was written and rewritten by strangers online. Unbeknownst to me, the best story I received actually had lines from the musical, Hamilton. (“Oceans rise, empires fall…”) That definitely wasn’t expected, but I kept it in anyway as it was a testament to how little influence I had in making the story.
I recall reading an interview with media artist Gerfried Stocker in which he states, “there is no contemporary art outside of media art,” asserting that contemporary art delves deeply into the reality of our times and reveals the mechanisms at play. What is your perspective on the potential of media art to address current issues? Do you agree with the idea that media art coexists with the concept of contemporary art?
I think it’s very difficult for media art to not talk about current issues, as media art is made possible because of current technologies (and there’s so many politics to unpack there). I agree with Stocker’s idea that contemporary art is art that responds to contemporary times, and that contemporary phenomenon is dominated by technology, though I’m not sure if I’m bold enough to proclaim that there is “no contemporary art outside of media art”. It’s true, however, that technology’s influence on our way of life also affects the type of art we make and are able to make. Artists have always expressed their thoughts on current issues and media technologies hasn’t changed that. It has just provided us with a new way to express our thoughts.
I absolutely adore Pete. He’s easily the most fantastic peacock I’ve ever come across. He exudes a vibrant and lively aura, truly the life of the party – a trait I can’t quite match! His video brings a smile to my face; your sense of humor is evident throughout your creations, whether it’s the visual style or the existential poetry of Eternally Moving. How significant is humor in your work, and what role does animation play in your creative expression?
I like to consider myself as a generally humorous person, so I think it’s natural that my work has funny elements too. Generally, I think of my web work to be on the serious side, but my animations are the opposite.
My animation career and web work are two completely different sides to my practice, and they don’t really overlap, and I still haven’t found a way to combine the two. Nonetheless, I appreciate the animation side since it allows me to make work that’s less serious. My animations also don’t require lots of research and theory-reading, so it gives me the chance to take a break from the seriousness of my web work and make something lighter.
(By the way, Pete took a break from a really sick house party to tell me to tell you that he appreciates that you think he’s cool.)
What themes or questions are you currently pondering about?
Currently, I’m reading up on Michel de Certeau’s theory of strategy and tactic. I’m grossly oversimplifying, but basically de Certeau argues that there are things we do unconsciously everyday that are ways of subverting powerful hegemonies. I’m especially interested in the way his theory works in the digital space, online.
In this political climate, resistance is necessary for survival. I’m trying to figure out if the things we do everyday (like selling used textbooks on Facebook, or reading the voices of pan-Asian creators in a blog) are actually unconscious ways of resisting (resistance to the capitalist influence on education, and resistance to racism, respectively). How else do we (unconsciously) subvert oppressive hegemonies, especially online?
What’s coming up next for you in your creative career?
I hope to curate more shows and maybe dive back into animation (Pete the Peacock was the last thing I’ve animated and I am itching to go through that laborious-but-rewarding process again). I’ve also got a project that’s been fermenting in the back of my head about the psychology of scrolling webpages, so I’d like to materialize that into a website soon. I think there’s a lot of valuable information in UX design that I can apply to my web work, so I’m doing some research into that as well!
Lastly, what does being a part of the Canadian art scene mean to you?
Being part of the Canadian art scene means that I have a great support system of friends and peers that understand the struggles I go through. It also means that I have the support from the government (via grants) to facilitate learning and community activation. Not everyone is lucky enough to grow up in a country where the art scene is so widely supported. So I am grateful that 1) there is an art scene at all, and 2) that it is inclusive and intersectional.
I used to feel that it was necessary as a woman of colour to make work about being a woman of colour. But I think I’ve realized that just being a woman of colour making work at all, was enough. Being an immigrant among immigrants means just taking up space is important, and I take up space whenever my name is on a wall vinyl, or whenever I give a talk. My expression as an Asian.Canadian artist is enough.
To learn more about Hiba Abdallah, visit her website.
To view more of Amanda Low, visit her website.
Lee Mirae 