Rachel De Joode, Seeing the Future, a skype-performance, 2011

A young, naked man stares at us, reacting in real-time via webcam; his image is projected onto a typical artist’s canvas and easel a few meters away. Every few minutes he speaks to us. Sometimes I hear what he says, “a woman walks across the room” or “the man with a blue jacket just moved towards the back”. Other times the Internet connection is too weak and his words become fragmented. But the audience understands he is watching us. We continue standing in front of him immobilized, it is awkward and the tension is real.

This performance entitled “Seeing The Future” by Rachel De Joode was a highlight of the opening at The Future Gallery last Friday. The event celebrated the sixth edition of PWR PAPER, a “phuturist” publication focused on art and design. The performance transported the character “Brennan” who is ten hours ahead of us back into the gallery space. Drawing attention to the collapse of present and future time De Joode’s concept seems fitting considering the name of the gallery and PWR PAPER’s tagline.

PWR PAPER , 2010-2011

PWR PAPER publications are usually one large, newsprint foldout and feature artists from the post-internet arts community. Friday’s event saw the launch of a bound book with over one hundred and fifty pages of artworks and writings.  Featuring more than twenty-six artists, the exhibition also included work by Aaron Graham, Andreas Banderas, Ben Schumacher, Carson Fish-Vittori, Martin Kohout, Oregon Painting Society, Sarah Hartnett and Travess Smalley. Many of the exhibiting artists regularly contribute to PWR PAPER. This publication and exhibition bring together an expansive group of artists, intermingling “phuturistic” perspectives on technology and culture.