Virtual Art

Lily & Honglei, John Craig Freeman and Will Pappenheimer

Teleport to Imaging Wall Street Now

It will premier at NY Arts’ Broadway Gallery in Soho in February.
NY Arts Broadway Gallery
473 Broadway, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10013
(212) 274-8993

Exhibition Dates: February 15 – 28, 2009
Gallery hours: Tues – Sat 10:00AM – 6:00PM
Opening Reception: Thursday, February 19th, 2009

Virtual Art unveils the latest trend and experiment in the field of new media art – creating contemporary artistic expressions with Second Life, which utilize virtual environments, animations, videos, cyberspace performances as well as traditional fine arts language. The exhibition highlights artistic practice in Second Life engaging with history and contemporary geo-political realities or utopia, exposing their complicated dynamics. Featured artworks include Beijing artists Lily & Honglei’s video installation and machinima “Land of Illusion”, American artists John Craig Freeman and Will Pappenheimer’s interactive installation “Imaging Wall Street.”

“Land of Illusion” is a visual meditation deeply concerning history, philosophy, Chinese diaspora and current development of China, meanwhile exploring the meaning of virtual online communities in terms of global dialogues regarding cultural root and fantasy of China. “It reflects on globalization’s impact on environment and individual, which often results cultural or personal identity becomes multi-layered, misplaced, or spiritually homeless, while struggling to preserve traditional values.” the two Beijing artists state.

“Imaging Wall Street” is a place-based virtual reality project that combines mapping, panoramic video, and three-dimensional virtual worlds to document situations where the forces of globalization are impacting the lives of individuals in local communities. The goal of the project is to develop the technologies, the methodology and the content for truly immersive and navigable documentary media, based in real places around the world. In “Imaging Wall Street,” John Craig Freeman and Will Pappenheimer make their way across Lower Manhattan from the Stock Exchange to the various investment banks and financial service companies which were recently bailed out by the U.S. government collecting peoples stories of loss and home as they go.