SPACEX PRESS RELEASE

COMPUTING 101B
JODI
4 December 2004 to 19 February 2005

Computing 101B is an exhibition at Spacex, Exeter's contemporary art venue. The exhibition is inspired by the very things people hate most about computers: viruses, glitches, pop-up windows. It works on the anxieties and sense of panic that everyday computer malfunctions can cause, the all too familiar symptoms of the high-tech era.

The exhibition presents the work of Netherlands-based artist duo JODI, whose work, My%Desktop, earned international acclaim with its premiere last year at the Eyebeam Centre in New York. This computer masterpiece features four giant Mac desktops, with windows manically opening and closing as if controlled by some unseen, chaotic force, accompanied by a breathtaking soundtrack of collaged computer bleeps and squeaks.

JODI also present a new work, Max Payne Cheats Only Gallery. Instead of the main character in the blockbuster computer game, Max Payne, being controlled by a gamer, a series of loops capture him wandering aimlessly, trying to find a way out of an endless cycle of confrontation and paranoia. Renowned for its shoot-em-up violence, here Max wanders the game film noir-style without regard for his mission, searching for the spaces where the logic of the game breaks down.

Notes for editors
Spacex is one of the UKs leading contemporary art venues, presenting the latest developments in visual art to as wide as audience as possible. Computing 101B is a touring exhibition of FACT, Liverpool. Max Payne Cheats Only Gallery was commissioned by FACT, Liverpool

For more information, images or to arrange to photograph the artists at the exhibition, please contact Hannah Prothero, Exhibitions & Marketing Co-ordinator, Spacex, phone: 01392 431786, mail@spacex.co.uk

Spacex, 45 Preston Street, Exeter EX1 1DF Open Tues to Sat. 10am to 5pm, admission free