Shamans with a Modem: Joseph and Donna McElroy

Another work of this duo's that catches my eye is Time (http://www.electrichands.com/sketches/time/), which opens, through a round of applause, on a blurred crowd scene, over which the blue hand of a clock draws itself and starts ticking. This work is striking in its simplicity; it's a haiku-like piece, one that plays on its own brevity; while it's not really interactivity per se (the user does not control the manifestation of the piece), it's clever, and takes its theme deep into its very form.

Many of Joseph and Donna McElroy's works can be seen at furtherfield (http://www.furtherfield.org/home.html ) , the online collection of writers, artists, networkers and musicians that serves, much like rhizome and turbulence, as a node on the net art grid. The McElroy's work is markedly different from much net art, which is all too often haunted by its own connection to the machine to venture out into performative waters such as this. In that, the McElroy's remain true originals--and hopefully a taste of things to come.

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