What is The Cell?

 

The Cell is a multidisciplinary work.  It is an installation, a space, and a three-dimensional painting.  You can enter this space physically if you visit Ridgewood, Brooklyn, or virtually by visiting its YouTube channel.

 

What was your intention for this space?

 

I am interested in contemporary culture and our immersion in the virtual world.  My millennial generation spend hours, months, even lifetimes within the virtual confines of social media.  We make friends, build our virtual appearance by creating appealing avatars, exchange information, become attracted to others, or even just their avatars!  Is this immersion irreversible?

 

It seems that many people completely lose themselves in this synthetic digital realm.  I was led to wonder what the next step of this immersion would be... Perhaps, with the development of VR headsets and 360° cameras, we could build a perfect, undistinguishable, illusion of the physical world in digital space?

 

Perhaps we can inhabit that space just as we inhabit the material world.  The dream of teleportation is now possible! I would like to visit other people in their rooms or spaces, whether in Paris or Poland, while physically remaining in Brooklyn.  The future is already here.

 

What did you do?

 

Firstly I found a room, a studio which looks like a large box or cube - the Cell.  I painted each wall a bright fluorescent color, and installed a 360° camera in the center.  The camera is used to stream video via YouTube simultaneous with my presence inside the room.  This provides a mechanism whereby anyone, anywhere in the world - by means of a simple VR headset - can enter

the room.  You can ‘teleport’ from your space into my space. My aim is to open the Cell to as many people as I can invite. Everyone is welcome to visit!