MAK – Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna presents La Turbo Avedon: Pardon Our Dust

June 22–September 25, 2022

“have i loaded, once again
i could see it all reflecting back
a canopy advertising every heaven
infinite subdivisions, simulated parcels
in the surface of this reloading stream”

The MAK is showcasing La Turbo Avedon’s debut solo show in Austria with Pardon Our Dust. La Turbo Avedon is a non-binary curator and artist who only appears as an avatar in virtual environments. They created a brand-new time-based CGI piece for the MAK that is presented as a continuously looping simulation from the viewpoint of the avatar.

The virtual voyage is displayed on a central large-scale projection and five synchronized screens and takes viewers through various landscapes and settings that are undergoing construction and deconstruction—a reference to the exhibition’s name and the growth of Web3.

The story opens and closes at a gas station with the sign “Lethe” that is submerged in water: The term, which also means hiding in the sense of oblivion, is related to the fabled river Lethe. Greek legend holds that those who drank the Lethe’s water would forget everything they had ever experienced before entering the afterlife, allowing them to be reincarnated into immortality. The spoken text is reflected on the horizontal screen, which serves as a “mirror” and entrance to the virtual world. Until the attention switches to a glimmering light in the distance that says “Lethe,” a machine learning algorithm temporarily takes control of the produced image sequences to create abstract images that eventually merge to a timeless virtual realm and reflect brand messages infinity.

Pardon The phrase “Our Dust” alludes to the 1990s internet boom, when it was applied to newly launched websites. La Turbo Avedon adopts a critical stance regarding the alleged decentralization of the internet, privatization of digital space, and the commercial and colonialist heritage of the physical world that is propagated online by making allusions to the creation of Web3, the metaverse, and the language of the crypto community.

About La Turbo Avedon
As an artist, La Turbo Avedon was “born” in 2008/09 in the metaverse of the collective online computer game Second Life. Since then, La Turbo Avedon has been living and working in cyberspace, creating digital installations, simulations, sculptures, videos, and performances while running virtual art spaces like Club Rothko and Panther Modern.

The extensive queer and subcultural history of the new media and the beginnings of the internet are a repeating theme for La Turbo Avedon regarding the creation of their own identities as well as the exploration and creation of virtual realities and meaningful encounters within them.

In their work La Turbo Avedon assimilates elements from video game environments as well as quotes from the current web culture and critically addresses the medium of the internet and its technological and economic developments.

Curator: Marlies Wirth, Curator, Digital Culture and MAK Design Collection

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