Art in the Internet Age

A work by Guy Ben-Ari at the Hamidrasha Gallery.
Crossposted from Haaretz

A work by Guy Ben-Ari at the Hamidrasha Gallery.
The name of a new art exhibition opening tonight in Tel Aviv — “Search Engine” — reflects a behavior pattern that has been prevalent since the birth of the Internet. But the works chosen for the “Search Engine” exhibition at the Center for Contemporary Art were actually created in more classical art forms — painting, photography and sculpture — in order to provide a stronger illustration of our complex relationship with the virtual world.
The chosen art forms also represent something of a break with the center’s manifesto, which usually favors the advancement of video art and new media. The choice of classical art forms, rather than video and new media, in which the use of search engines and the virtual space is more common, is deliberate, and behind it lies the idea of presenting a tension between the fields.
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