Rosa antipodea

n e I n T o r m a i o n A g e The Information Age is a commentary on problems and absurdities that occur with JTTA KIRCHGEORG communication devices and the way we use them. It explores the mystification of [ultimedia CD-ROM modem technology and our resulting frustration with it and examines the underlying structures of control and power. 997 When I first came to the United States two years ago, I noticed that a considerable part of our communication was accomplished through machine interfaces. While this situation is not specific to the United States, it was the exposure to working in a second language in everyday life that brought it to the front of my consciousness. Routines I had never really thought about suddenly became difficult, sometimes unmanageable, tasks. The flaws in automation became evident and inspired me to further scrutiny and the creation of this hybrid CD-ROM. The Information Age is a statement on our avid commitment to rapidly developing technology and our acceptance of the resulting alterations in communication mechanisms, information access, and changed social structures. Under the guise of an educational presentation, The Information Age embodies a progressive technological disaster based on both my real experiences with modern technologies and my worst nightmares r about them. Structured into chapters about major achievements in electronic communications-the telegraph, the telephone, the radio, ' . B the television, the computer, and the Internet-it covers all crucial eras of the advancing Information Age. On the surface, the navigation and organization mimic other educational CD-ROMs, but there is a second, hidden level of functionality that becomes apparent only after a certain amount of user interaction. Things happen beyond the user's control, and he encounters progressively more alerts and error messages instructing him how to proceed within the piece. Thus, in parallel with the movement towards newer technologies, the user experiences problems of increasing frequency and fatality until, at last, control is taken completely out of his hands. Interaction turns into reaction, and finally the user is confronted with an "intelligent" entity that is communicating with him by typing chatty messages onto the screen. As this entity discloses all the data it has collected about the user, he realizes that in trying to control the machine, he has ultimately been forced to cede control to it. Rosa antipodea belongs to a series of 12 images of roses titled with both the Latin botanical Rosa antipode and common names of the flowers. The roses in the series include Rosa dolorosa (thorned variety), CHRISTL BER Rosa antipodea (Down Under variety), Rosa bicapita (genuine Tasmanian variety), Rosa insularis Digital pr lEE; j. ' . .rs^...i.._-^._~.__ _._ . .: .- . . (coastal variety), Rosa viminalis (camouflage vari_E ', ? ;ety), Rosa glacii (polar variety), Rosa profunda (endless variety), Rosa erotica (sensual variety), II. sl I , S. 1-11 Rosa fantasia (elusive variety), and so on. ,,; . ~i | 1X .^ * l _ l _I "grow" my roses on the computer, and my specimens play with our belief in the i'*'i* i^^^lBCjIlaifcftJBl^B^^ 1 truthfulness of scientific illustration and the authority of naming. They refer to genetic manipulation as well as to the heavy symbolism with which the rose has been endowed over the centuries. !ii iai:,. e! ^ ^5- ^ }" * Roses also play a part in the history of colonization, and I use the rose as a -^ ^^^BB^BHUPP I metaphor for my own story of migration-I grew up in Germany, lived for 14 years SC-, ;:f ... :!in India, and now live in Tasmania. Roses serve me as a container of memories and ...: ? ^^^:~ *reflections, and I intend to grow and record more of them. c. ....... 398 Digital Salon, Artists' Statements I jt 15 a LG int 996 r1L _ - _-_ - -.....! -_ _ _A - ...