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Saturday, March 02, 2002

By Eve Modzelewski

The irony is inescapable: As humans have developed better communication technology, we have in some ways become more inept at connecting with each other.

	This photograph of an empty corporate board room is one is a series of five similar scenes in "Understanding Geography" by Andrea Geyer at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. It's part of "Stepping Back, Moving Forward" at the center through May 5.

Cell phones, chat rooms and e-mail have often replaced face-to-face interaction and, out of convenience, we've learned to deal with each other through a digitized veil.

Of course, I write all this on my DSL-connected laptop, with my cell phone and hand-held organizer sitting within reach. Hey, technology isn't all bad.

There's a fine line between the bane and the boon of technology, and that delicate balance is addressed in "Stepping Back, Moving Forward: Human Interaction in an Interactive Age," an analytical exhibition of photography, video and Internet art at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.

The show, which runs through May 5, is expected to be the last curated exhibition at the PCA for quite some time, as the center laid off its exhibition staff Feb. 11.

It originated as two separate shows at the Center for Photography at Woodstock, N.Y., and was imported to Pittsburgh by former PCA curator Vicky Clark -- who consistently used the PCA as a venue for addressing social issues through art. To curate the exhibition, Clark brought in William Stover of the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York and Laurie Halsey Brown, an artist and independent curator who is currently doing a residency in Holland.

The exhibition is divided into two parts: "stepping back," which features photographs of public and private spaces that are devoid of people; and "moving forward," composed of video and digital art that reflect the way the Internet has taught us to process information and experience the world at an accelerated pace. The two components are integrated almost seamlessly, and they play off of each other to address many poignant issues.

	The center, at 6300 Fifth Ave. (at Shady), is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. For information, call 412-361-0873.

At first, "Stepping Back, Moving Forward" seems to berate technology and the way it has invaded our lives.

One room in the gallery, for example, thrusts the visitor right into the exhibition with a text message that says, "These walls under video surveillance," a reference to the security video system that monitors the movement of PCA visitors. Nearby, a huge live-video image of the parking lot of the center is projected onto the wall, and one can't help but feel a bit paranoid while strolling through the show.

But, as co-curator Brown explains, "Stepping Back, Moving Forward" isn't just about instilling paranoia or pointing out the evils of technology. It's about getting people to think about its effects on their psyches.

"Our hope was that [the show] would heighten the consciousness of these daily activities," Brown said during a phone interview from Holland last week. She uses the Internet and other forms of technology in her own art, and so she recognizes its benefits, but she also points out the need for awareness of the psychological impact of a wired society.

Whether we're watching some stranger on a Web cam -- which, indeed, is a component of the show -- or being watched ourselves, we need to be conscious of this new brand of voyeurism.

The Web cam included in the show -- online at www.helgathedog.com -- appears at the PCA alongside Michael Fisher's and Kate MacDonnell's photographs of vacant interiors that feature trace evidence of a human presence: strands of hair clinging to the tiles of a shower stall or footprints on a grungy bath towel, for example. The photos have the same impersonal, haunting effect as the snapshots broadcast on the Web cam.

Three other pieces of Internet art are included in the show. Kristen Lucas' "Between a Rock and a Hard Drive" (www.diacenter.org/lucas) is a clever, satirical commentary on the brand of language used in Internet chat rooms. "M or F?" an audio file on the Web site blares repeatedly, referencing the shorthand way to inquire about a person's sex. For anyone who has spent any time in chat rooms, Lucas' parodies of the jumbled conversations that take place in cyberspace are right on the mark.

Although the Internet is still considered an emerging artistic medium, Brown believes that's going to change. "It's like video was 20 years ago -- the galleries and museums didn't know how to show it, and then suddenly it was the art," she said. "I think the Internet is going to have the same kind of boom."

"Stepping Back, Moving Forward" presents many memorable images.

"The Box" is a mesmerizing video by Tracy Bass, Jes Benstock and Luke Losey that shows a confused, lonely woman walking through a city that is moving around her at high speed. The effect is a chilling statement about the isolating effects of technology, but the irony is that the video couldn't have been created without those very high-tech advances.

Andrea Geyer's photographs of vacant corporate boardrooms are harshly sterile, as are Danielle Mericle's depressing photographs of industrial warehouses and office buildings. And Daniel Mirer's scenes of empty hallways and parking garages scream "loneliness."

The photographs, combined with the digital art and video pieces in the show, force viewers to address countless issues about isolation and technology, and one is left feeling overwhelmed after a walk through the show.

But that's just proof of how effective the exhibition is. Just as people have been swamped with information overload in recent years, so too do we feel overwhelmed "Stepping Back, Moving Forward." It's a compelling show that merits a longer description than is permitted here. But I wouldn't want to overload you.

Eve Modzelewski is a free-lance writer for the Post-Gazette.