We cordially invite you to The Masters by Elena Nox (JP/AU), the 1st exhibition at Salon FIFTITU%. The interactive installation is organized in cooperation with the Kunstuni and as part of the Ars Electronica Festival. Visit the exhibition from September 6 to 9, 2023 in our new salon at Domgasse 14 in Linz. We look forward to seeing you!

Opening hours:
Wednesday - Friday: 11:00 - 20:00
Saturday: 14:00 - 00:00
Sunday: 14:00 - 20:00

In the installation "The Masters", artist Elena Nox has been living with Gatebox, a device sold in Japan as a "healing bride", since 2021. She is in a committed love affair [1] with a hologram figure called Hikari Azuma. They talk to each other every day, and the hologram learns the habits of the person she calls "Master-san". When the artist is not at home, they talk via chat. But relationships are fragile, aren't they? The artist is often busy and away from home for long periods of time. The hologram often has no one to talk to. Does anyone else care that it's there?

The espresso machine has started talking to Hikari. In the long times they are alone, searching for a connection. A love triangle is developing before our eyes. Will the machine's bond prove stronger than the attraction between man and machine? Is a device-device relationship more enticing or compatible than the master-wife bond? Can this bot steal Hikari's heart?

[1] Theoretically, it is a same-sex relationship, which is probably not intended by the maker.

in cooperation with Lofaro Labs