Cyber-Artist Rodney Chang as guest of mayor Buhl

Sonthofen

The artists Rodney Chang, Richard Dumaine and Ingrid Kamerbeek met in Sonthofen on their way from Frankfurt to Vienna where they presently take part in a traveling exhibition. However, when they were received by mayor Hubert Buhl, none of their pictures where seen anywhere. Even though interested people in Sonthofen can not at present admire an "exhibition", the artwork of the cyber artist can be viewed around the clock on the internet.

His pictures are produced on the computer, says the American of Asian origin, and are only originals if viewed on the monitor. Prints, like the ones presented to the public in Frankfurt right now, are regardless of their technical quality merely reproductions of his art.

Rodney Chang, who has ten academic titles, amongst them a doctor of dental medicine, is a visionary of internet art. He founded the movement "webism" which he understands as a kind of "artistic United Nations". With the help of the web, millions of worldwide connected computers, he wants to make artwork through digitalization accessible to all people and thus contribute to a better understanding of cultures.

Virtual Exhibition in the internet

The most important aspect of Webism is the way art is distributed. Whether the images are created with the help of a computer or in a traditional way with a brush on canvas and then photographed and digitalized: important is the fact that they are available in digital form and thus can be viewed in every corner of the world without loss of quality.

Thus only a few clicks in the internet in the mayor’s office would have sufficed to load Rodney Chang’s virtual art gallery onto the screen. The artist thus entered the town hall in Sonthofen only apparently without his pictures in his luggage. Access to the internet is enough for the Webist to enter the all encompassing worldwide sphere of cyber art.

Those who are interested can view the work of Rodney Chang at www.lastplace.com.

Sonthofen’s mayor Hubert Buhl (second from right) receives Dr. Rodney Chang, Ingrid Kamerbeek and Richard Dumaine (from left). The three Cyber artists are passing though from Frankfurt to Vienna. There they participate in an international exhibition.

Photo: Hans-Christian Rudolf