Show and Tell: 10
Cyber Sanctuaries by Specter

Step into the virtual spa that is Cyber Sanctuaries and leave your earthly stress behind. 

Cyber Sanctuaries is a creation by Specter, a curatorial initiative by Agnes Momirski and Georgia Kareola. It is a virtual space to relax and recharge, made up of numerous rooms, with art created by multiple new media and soundscape artists, united here in the zeitgeist of self-care and the digital realm.

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In the first room, Cleanse, you are met by a silver being swaying effortlessly in the waves of a turbulent, pixelated sea. They invite you to take solace in the virtual world, where access is 24/7 and the simulation is infinite.

Part of RIFT by Kerrie IRL in the "Be Abundant" room from Cyber Sanctuaries. An image of a calm virtual world featuring 3D iridescent water lapping against large boulders, one of which is sprouting a large plant similar to a snake plant.Part of RIFT by Kerrie IRL in Be Abundant

You can then proceed to move through other rooms with names such as Expand, Be Weighless, and Synchronize. Each room offers a meditative reset of the senses. It might seem contradictory to use a virtual space to cleanse the mind, as technology seems to be the scapegoat for worldwide collective stress. However, in room 11, Integrate, the non-judgmental meditation Smartphone Cleanse 101 by Jasper Griepink counters this sentiment by encouraging users to reflect on their cell-phone habits and how these feed into the greater human consciousness. 

In other rooms, you can fall into infinite visual patterns or float weightlessly as a monotonous text-to-speech reader reflects on the socio-political landscape of today and how to navigate it. 

The variety of works in Cyber Sanctuaries offers both social commentary and meditation -  upon closing the browser your mind will be refreshed in several ways.

Screengrab of 'A Motion for X.y.n.ing' by Kumbirai Makumbe in the "Be Weightless" room at Cyber Sanctuaries. An image of an aspatial place, perhaps somewhere in space as there is an orange sky gradient fading into deep blue at the bottom. Bulbous, grey floating objects permeate the space.Screengrab of 'A Motion for X.y.n.ing' by Kumbirai Makumbe in Be Weightless

Cyber Sanctuaries is Specter’s pavilion at The Wrong Biennale, a global initiative to promote digital culture. The pavilion has now been extended to allow the public to enjoy the work for longer in the midst of the global pandemic. We encourage Special Special's audience to enter the sanctuary and, in the words of Specter, let it “digitally retreat, replenish and rejuvenate you.”

Cyber Sanctuaries features work by artists George Jasper Stone & Suzannah Pettigrew & cktrl, Kumbirai Makumbe, Fahmi Mursyid, Pinar & Viola, Sofia Crespo, Keiken,  Jasper Griepink, Weixin Quek Chong, Kerrie IRL, Noviki , Valdas, Neurovirtual and Semiosphera

Enjoy the work:
Cyber Sanctuaries

About Specter:
Specter was initiated by Agnes Momirski and Georgia Kareola - two Mercurial minds - a Gemini with a Cancer heart, and a Cancer with Gemini mind. They share empathic souls (Pisces moons) and quick minds (Gemini rising at 11 and 5 degrees). Their natal Mercury (at 25 and 23 degrees Gemini) naturally conspires with their future-minded Aquarius MC (at 12 and 1 degree). These two wordsmiths enjoy drinking espressos, and exploring altered states of mind, futuristic visions, and personal alchemies.

Website: https://specter.world/
Instagram: @specter.world

 

For Show and Tell, Special Special invites a selection of artists to produce or share work that can be viewed in the browser, downloaded, or streamed. The work is presented as a series of digital exhibitions periodically delivered to email inboxes.

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