(chatlandia)

Directors: Julia Meltzer, Amanda Ramos
USA, 2000, 3', color

English with Turkish subtitles

(chatlandia) uses the public bathroom stall as format and metaphor for Internet relay chat lines (IRCs). The video's soundtrack is composed from transcripts of actual IRC sessions; the conversations emerging from this institutional facade speak of lust, intimacy, spunky women, and "what Desiree wants," calling into question the division between humans and machines. In (chatlandia) the larger theme of how the 'net functions as social space is explored and encourages the viewer to ask: Is the Information Age actually bringing us closer together or pushing us farther apart? Is the way we interact physically being transformed by our virtual interactions? Can we be intimate through the plastic interface of the computer and how does the Internet feed this need?

Freebird

Freebird

Fresh Kill

Fresh Kill

(chatlandia)

(chatlandia)

Valentine for Perfect Strangers

Valentine for Perfect Strangers

Wonders Wander

Wonders Wander

Memory of Objects

Memory of Objects

In his book exploring the cultural history of souvenirs, Rolf Potts discusses how such objects assume meaning through personal stories: Objects turn into memories with the stories they hold.

Félix Ziem (1821-1911) A nomadic, unclassifiable, and eccentric artist

Félix Ziem (1821-1911) A nomadic, unclassifiable, and eccentric artist

French artist Félix Ziem is one of the most original landscape painters of the 19thcentury. The exhibition Wanderer on the Sea of Light presents Ziem as an artist who left his mark on 19th century painting and who is mostly known for his paintings of Istanbul and Venice, where the city and the sea are intertwined. 

Cameria (Mihrimah Sultan)

Cameria (Mihrimah Sultan)

Based on similar examples by the European painters in various collections, this work is one of the portraits of Mihrimah Sultan, who was depicted rather often in the 16th century.