A Soa(POP)era for Laptops
Peter Sinclair of Marseille, France and G.H. Hovagimyan if New York City came together in 1998 to create A Soa(POP)era for Laptops. Both artists work with cross-media and sound and began playing with computers and the internet to create art, shortly after it was developed. A Soa(POP)era for Laptops uses four computers or laptops to create a sort of play or performance. Each of the laptops are mounted on “custom made loudspeaker-trailers.” The laptops use programed voice and word recognition as well as text-to-speak programming to hold “conversations” with each other. The conversations often have long pauses where none of the computers say anything, when they do, their voices are very automatic sounding and it is difficult to understand what they are saying. Because the computers respond to key words that trigger responses as a way of imitating human conversation, the difficulty of understanding what the computers are saying often results in one of the computers misinterpreting what another computer said and the conversation taking on an entirely different track than what was originally being discussed. The artists interact with the computers by playing guitar and talking to the computers, and the computers software allows the computers to listen and sing along.
This exhibition was recreated by the same artists several times using different computers and staged backgrounds. In one performance the computers were mounted on remote controlled cars which were then driven around by the artists, in another performance all of the computers were seated on lounge furniture. Each new performance was given a new name and so the alternate titles of the piece are Exercises in Talking and Les Jaseurs. The conversation points of the computers are deliberately mundane, discussing cars, sex, shopping, politics, and food. The computers occasionally burst out into song at strange moments.
I believe the artists are making a fascinating statement about the advancement of technology, and how this affects society as a whole. I also think there is a certain commentary going on regarding human-to-human interactions and how in some ways these interactions can seem automatic or programmed. The fact that the computers respond to specific key words seems to be a very clever imitation of the way human interactions take place. However the little glitches in programming where the computers may respond in song or completely misunderstand what the other computer said and go off talking about something bizarre allow the viewer to think about why humans find these responses inappropriate. Why is it that we feel that it is not socially appropriate to burst into song at any given moment? Why must conversations stay on the same track for a given amount of time? These social constructions are definitely being explored through the (for the time period it was developed) new lens of technology. There are also underlying tones regarding the advancement of computers and the absurd potential of them becoming just like humans, able to interact in the same way but with the removal of any real emotional feeling or motivation. This idea seemed to be popular in the 1990’s as technology was new but rapidly being developed and people were unaware of the potential affects of it’s power.
The artists definitely add an aspect of sculpture to the piece by placing the computers on lounge furniture and providing them with “hair.” Each of the characters in the performance is defined mainly by their hair, as their voices all sound very similar. The lighting is dramatic and increases the idea that this is a performance. I also find it fascinating that the artists themselves become part of the performance as they go onstage and interact with the computers by singing and talking, almost mimicking a children’s television show.
While I don’t necessarily have any critiques of the piece, I’m not sure I would want to sit through an entire performance. The length of the performances is not provided on the webpage but it seems like it could be a long process. While I find the idea fascinating, I much prefer to study the instillation from the internet, rather than seeing it in person, the complete reverse of how I feel about most art pieces. However in this particular instance, the videos and well rounded website made it possible for me to have a very solid idea about what this piece consists of and how it operates. I think this piece is an interesting representation of how people thought about computers in the 1990’s and how some people feel about the advancement of technology today. Although I think most of the fears of technology becoming humanized has subsided this piece looks at several ideas regarding human and computerized interactions that are very relevant to modern society.
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