DEMOS – A Reconstruction, 2018

74 vinyl-covered foam modules

Relationships that are constantly negotiated in the age of the Internet are explored in three dimensions by Andreas Angelidakis’s DEMOS – A Reconstruction.

The work consists of 74 foam modules that have been arranged for Nuit Blanche into a fixed structure designed by the artist. This amphitheatre-like space can be used as seating from which to watch three videos that trace the story of Angelidakis’s first Soft Ruin that was produced in 2007 to his current installation at MOCA.

Works on show:

Tetris Mountain, 2003

Building an Electronic Ruin, 2011

MINERVA, 2014

Please note that for Nuit Blanche the installation of DEMOS – A Reconstruction is a fixed structure and the modules should not be moved.

“I started out as an architect, working in online communities such as Active Worlds and Second Life. I was part of a collective called NEEN, which in the early 2000s explored the new boundaries of Art Online, or what we used to call “the emotional landscape of the Internet.” I built worlds for our group, places where we could hang out as avatars and pretend to be together. I tried to understand what the architecture of the internet could be, what kind of buildings would grab the fleeting attention span of the online human.

A few years later, I visited Second Life again, and found some of my abandoned buildings, looking as new as when I copy-pasted and re-coded modules to build them. I began to think of how I could make an electronic building age gracefully, instead of just looking dated. I went back to Second Life, and tried to teach a building how to become a ruin.

Somewhere in the process, I turned my electronic ruin into soft building parts, upholstered with digitally printed textures. On these new ruins, visitors could comfortably lie down to watch the story of my Soft (ware) Ruin.”

Extract from text by Andreas Angelidakis

Last entry time: 6:30 a.m.

Accessibility:

MOCA Toronto is a barrier-free and accessible museum for all. We are located on the first five floors of the Tower Automotive Building, with elevators serving each floor. The museum has wheelchair and stroller parking as well as two walkers and wheelchairs available onsite for use. If you have other needs we should know about, contact us at visitorexperience@mocalegacy.webpreview.site ahead of time to make any arrangements.

Andreas Angelidakis, Installation View DEMOS – A Reconstruction, 2018. Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada. Photo by Toni Hafkenscheid.