What is community in the 21st Century? The question I’m asking here is the central theme of an upcoming exhibition at Nexus Art Café, organised by Blank Media Collective. On one side of the coin we live in a global village, with all the benefits of information, ease of communication and travel that this brings; advances in technology rapidly bringing us closer together. Whereas the other side of the coin offers a sense of community increasingly impersonal with the internet, e-mail and i-things.
The exhibition will include artists’ many angles of response to the premise, none more abstract than Lynne Heller’s exploration in the online world of Second Life, a concept seemingly anti-community in the traditional, real-life sense. But this is where the ‘community’ definition through art is all the more intriguing; where once you could paint yourself in utopia, now you can interact and communicate in such a world.
Others will display their thoughts on the lead question, including collaboration between Manchester-based artist Taneesha Ahmed and Alex Moore to present their own community named The Denmasons. The idea being that of a secret society akin to those you’d create as a child whilst building a den in your bedroom or back garden.
It all begins tonight (11th February) with a preview (6-9pm), and continues from 12th February through until 11th April.
Words: Ian Pennington
Picture, top: Ben Rose 2008
Picture, middle: Lynne Heller, Snow / Globes, 2009-10
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