LIKES CHARGE is a body of work first exhibited at Women & Their Work Gallery in Austin, TX, August 2020. The exhibition was availble in-person and virtual. The opening was held in gather.meet
In the exhibition Likes Charge, Melanie Clemmons transforms the gallery into a livestream temple dedicated to reimagining networked technology as a medium for spiritual rejuvenation and metaphysical manifestation. Surrounded by a series of video art projections that cast a magic circle, free from the internet’s more sinister elements, viewers can connect to cloud-based bliss. A flatscreen reflection pool explores algorithmic filter bubbles, and a smartphone sculpture embedded with 3D printed healing crystals provides a remedy for social media doom-scrolling. Web portals offer viewers online access to these metaphysical havens, and when available for in-person access, gallery visitors become part of the virtual experience via captive webcams.