Distant Shoreline

Video, continuous loop Photograph by Anthony Discenza

Using digital recording equipment, Anthony Discenza reprocesses hours of television watching, reducing it to a mesmerizing abstraction, which results from the compression of the signal. Often presented as multi-channel installations, the work evokes the idea of a media space that surrounds us, shaping our understanding of the world and blurring the notion of reality. The artist also confronts us with the idea of information overload. These lush abstractions reflect the seductive and mesmerizing quality of the mediated reality offered by television. Discenza, for instance, explains how the world of the famous series Star Trek is not necessarily any different from politics: The President of the United States and Captain Kirk co-exist in a world of channel surfing, seen through the looking-glass of television.