We the Cell(s)
Joseph Farbrook's Cell in the New Body, 2006, is a virtual visual poem that uses a combination of rapid flash animation and text to evoke meaning. This work cannot be fully explained without actually experiencing it, so I would urge the reader to visit it on the artist's site: http://www.farbrook.net/website/cell.html. The image and text compete with for attention because both are changing so rapidly and are equally intriguing. Farbrook addresses this dilemma by having the work on an infinite loop so that it can be seamlessly viewed as many times as needed to fully understand the meaning of the piece. The images are composed of many small elements that squiggle and shift, as though they were cells, working together to create the image. This work explores individual identity within a larger body, such as a network. We are all part of several networks, we are parts of a greater whole: a student in a school, an employee of a company, a member of an association etc. As users we are also all elements of the World Wide Web. The Internet is a network and relies on collaboration.
We work together to create the world of the Internet by uploading data. I believe the "new body" that Farbrook refers to in his poem could certainly be read as the vast network of the Internet. We may or may not necessarily be aware of what our actions on the Internet are building towards, but every keystroke we submit is inevitably adding to the network of information. While use of the Internet has become almost completely integrated with most aspects of daily life, there are some who still feel overwhelmed or daunted by the Internet. Both those who now little and those who know all too well of the vastness of the Wide Web can find it an imitating space. Cell in the New Body addresses the virtual world, which is a world with an enormous population that is rapidly increasing and that we have more and more access to. We can feel very small and insignificant in this world now more than ever because we are made aware of the seemingly unlimited achievements and outputs of our peers. It can thus be a challenge to identify ourselves in this increasingly virtual world. We can consider ourselves lost in an infinite space or found within a whole.
- Emily Cluett
