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A journal for storytelling, arguments, and discovery through tangential conversations.
Antagonistic Realisms: in conversation with Steven Cottingham
Monday, November 16, 2020 | Elliat Albrecht
Halfway through this unusual year, Steven Cottingham opened two back-to-back shows. The first, 'Worldwide Cobweb', was an online exhibition presented by Wil Aballe Art Projects in Vancouver. Unlike most now-ubiquitous online shows—which largely comprise photographs of physical objects in actual gallery spaces—Worldwide Cobweb’s artworks and venue were created entirely with open-source rendering software; in short, beyond electronic data, none of it existed in the physical realm. Digital works included further explorations of bleach-and-vinegar dyed canvases, blow-torched receipt paper, and folded LED curtains glowing with representations of heat emitted by undercover cop cars. Alongside the exhibition, Cottingham published a detailed text on the implications of realism in the technological age which reflected his long-standing interests in semiotics and perception.