World(s) of Awe

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Yael Kanarek's latest show, 'Warm Fields,' at New York City's Bitforms Gallery extends her well-known internet work World of Awe into a gallery space. The World of Awe is a long-running work that follows the movement of a traveler in the land of 'Sunset/Sunrise.' The texts and languages so vital to the virtual sphere are physically articulated through a series of sculptures that reflect the varied landscape that Awe's traveler inhabits. In the piece 'Sunset/Sunrise' hundreds of delicately cut words, spelling out the title in English, Hebrew, and Arabic are pinned to the wall, creating the illusion of multiple spatial and temporal dimensions. The amorphic and web-like 'Travelog 765.34/3: Cut Sunset/Sunrise' makes physical the textual and networked nature of the traveler's journal. While so many artists struggle to make the jump from web to gallery, Kanarek's installation seems an organic and logical physical extension of her internet practice, and just like her weary traveler, Kanarek's work seamlessly moves through multiple spaces.