LINDA ERCEG

VOX VIRTUA
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An artist in her mid thirties decides to post her personal profile on an internet dating site. In the process of doing this, she overcomes a bewildering but stubborn resistance to describing “herself” and her aspirations for an “ideal partner.” Her cynicism and apprehension dissolves as her in-box is flooded with virtual kisses and she sets out to explore the possibilities. Vox Virtua is a video installation that has explored the issues of visibility and vulnerability associated with internet dating. Focusing on the virtual “profiles” which participants create and post on internet dating websites, the exhibition examined a very new mode of self-representation - one which is gaining increasing prevalence and popularity in contemporary culture. Internet daters can post information about themselves, from “vital statistics,” to favourite music and movies, lifestyle preferences and short written statements, as well as photographs and video footage of themselves addressing the camera directly and giving a short self-introduction. These profiles can then be accessed by others and responded to for friendships, possible relationships and beyond...

Situating herself within both the culture of internet dating and the exhibition itself, Erceg examined the ways in which the technologies and conventions of internet dating may create a new space for self-representation, compelling participants to represent, and imagine themselves in new, challenging ways.

Linda Erceg completed her Honours in Fine Art at the Hobart School of Art (Photography) in 1997 and a Masters in Media Arts at RMIT University in 2000. Her practice over this time has shifted from traditional analogue prints to digital installation incorporating video, animation, interactivity and sound. Her thematics during this time have centered on an enquiry into real life and virtual cultures that surround sexualized representations of the body. Linda has presented individual exhibitions in Melbourne at the Centre for Contemporary Photography in 2002 and 2000, West Space 2001 and Mass Gallery 2000. She has participated in a number of group exhibitions including Staring In The Dark, Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney 2003; Crossing, New Australian Art , University of Art and Design (UIAH), Helsinki, Finland 2002; Lookalike, Nederlands Foto Institute, Rotterdam, Holland 2001 and Our Perfect Dream, Gallery 5020 Salzburg, Austria 2001. Linda has been a recipient of funding from the Australia Council's New Media Arts Board; Film Victoria's Interactive Screen Arts Fund and Arts Victoria's Arts and Professional Development Program. Linda teaches in the Visual Arts Department at RMIT.

[Biographical information current as at July, 2004]