Victoria Scott comments that 'Amanda felt it was important to choose materials that were available in both Sweden and Canada.' IKEA was chosen as the materials for the box, (the viewing) for goodness sake.

They think-tanked ideas of losing control-of their creations-not by design, but by choice. They attempted with salutary effects; to shake their and our own certitude's and lend wings to the imagination by giving the controls over to another country; but the myths tell us what happens when you fly too close to the sun...or dare to open the box...

In looking up at the sun there is the danger of going blind and in opening up boxes; in this case Pandoras, there is the very likely chance that one might have to battle the phalanxes of an enemy...myriad assailants might converge to shift your purpose and confuse your vision. Do we- don't we, open the box?

Victoria Scott and Francis LeBouthillier commend Graham on his visionary zeal, but Graham speaks humbly of the 'disastrous' consequences of losing control. Musing on the technical inadequacies, he feels that McLuhan was right when he said "technology should be given to the artists to serve as a early distant warning system".

Citing the impossibilities of being in two different places at once...opting to attend the opening in Stockholm, he reflects on not being able to 'go out with the artists for a drink after the show,' sure he could communicate through tele-conferencing but...he missed the tactile experience of 'the real thing'.

Although, scientists at NIST have just disproved the 'adage' by preparing a beryllium atom that is simultaneously located in two widely separated places. As detailed in the May 24 issue of Science, last year, this experiment has connections to the works of Albert Einstein and Erwin Schroedinger- who considered the possibility that a cat could be made to be both dead and alive at the same time. When we put the Cat in the box with the poison and seal the box we can not see what is going on. At any time the Cat could be dead or it could be alive. Which is to say there is an uncertainty in its position or state.

So, although Graham was alive, present in the opening at Stockholm, he appears, physically dead, but alive via robot at the opening in Toronto; All the walls go out... people suddenly have to adjust themselves to this new proximity - Marshall McLuhan.

Graham is currently working with U of T and Ryerson to commercialise the PEBBLES videoconferencing system, which links children from hospitals to their classrooms via a two-way videoconferencing robot. Check out these links for more info.

>>CONTINUE>>


SWEDISH ARTISTS: from top to bottom

Christion Bock
Dinka Pignon
Thomas Liljenberg

The Flykingon Gallery, Sweden