“Station Rose”: This was a multimedia laboratory in Vienna, installed in 1988 by media artists Elisa Rose and Gary Danner. In 1991 they closed the station to move to Frankfurt because of (techno) music. Since then, they have continued their research into “virtual reality”, especially on the dance floor test field (in Disco XS). The duo is currently trying to demonstrate why this should be understood as part of a global artistic strategy (keyword: "Cyberspace") in a Station Rose show at the Troester & Schlueter gallery in Frankfurt . Thomas A. Wolff spoke to them.
One item on the program in the “Station Rose” menu is art; Why do psychedelic patterns appear on the monitor that look more like trendy fashion design? What does psychedelia have to do with media art?
Elisa Rose: “I think that in the sixties psychedelics was the starting point to find a new language, just by going away from things that you find in the real world and also exploring other worlds. There is a saying by Timothy Leary “From Psychedelics to Cybernetics”. That is exactly our approach. Psychedelic patterns were really a trend now, but they weren't at all a while ago. But that only means that it has reached a level that appeals to several people and not just a small artistic elite. But I don't think that's negative. We don't only have psychedelic patterns in our digital image archive either. What we're only marginally interested in are the 3D graphics. This means that only living rooms and kitchens are actually recreated. We believe that psychedelics are also about other spaces. Why, for example, does a room have to have four walls? All of this has to be researched anew.
The topic also has the task of disseminating theoretical statements on the subject of "virtual reality". On the new CD-ROM from Station Rose this is now mainly dealt with in the form of catchphrases and trivial statements. These so-called theories appear to be very effective and not well thought out.
Gary Danner: The people we are quoting are people like Leary, Morton Heilig, Howard Rheingold - these are people who think very medially and also have to think because it's their job. This is also due to the American language, which sometimes sounds very trivial and striking - but that is the language these people speak.
A maximum stimulus frequency is obviously something that has a very strong impact on the aesthetics of cyberspace culture, be it in techno music, in video images or in the total range of data networks. Buzzwords like “overstimulation” quickly come to mind.
Danner: There is another catchphrase from Leary “de-individualization of over-information”.
Rose: I believe that many people's perception is slower than circumstances already require. I am sure that we all act within an extreme overstimulation, that we all swim around like babies because we don't even know how to deal with it. We are also overwhelmed when we are on the net and get data because too much is going on at the same time, because you are definitely lost in the virtual, electronic jungle. We all have to learn to deal with it.
Apparently, “Station Rose” does not deal particularly critically with this phenomenon, but only reflects on it.
Rose: I think you have to surf it first, somehow find your way around. It's a jungle with all the trimmings ...
--- that "Station Rose" also designed.
Rose: We are helping to build it, have thrown ourselves into it. But we are not entirely uncritical. For us, “virtual reality” is not the solution or the alternative or the true truth. It's just there.  
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