ARTS . Arts Picks

Webcams


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Published: Nov 15, 2006

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Vox Populi member John Lorenzini's latest exhibit, Webcams, is an exploration fit for the photo fetishes of today's so-called MySpace Nation. Dames are draped across couches and darlings gaze off into the distance with pouty lips. They wear come-hither stares but it's hard to figure out the specifics of the situation. This is Lorenzini's trump card — the element of suggestion. It's a theme that's been prevalent in his previous Vox Pop photography showings, as well as his current Philadelphia Art Alliance exhibit, Set Pieces. The viewer is forced to draw conclusions to complete the story.

Is the setting real? Maybe she's in a bedroom or in front of a drape in the corner of her kitchen. Who is this woman hoping to find? Is she after true love or just some frivolous flirting? Lorenzini spent hours looking at personal Web cam sites to learn more about the sexual and social ambiguities of human relations on the Internet. What he found were people who seemed to have goals ranging from the innocent to the voyeuristic for their Web site visits.

"I did want to focus more on the sexual nature of the idea of an individual or a woman in some ways interacting with someone that isn't there," says Lorenzini. "[The photos] are just figures of women that are there in some way waiting for something." This brings up what could be the biggest question: What are they waiting for?

Through Nov. 26, Vox Populi, 1315 Cherry St., fourth floor, 215-568-5513, www.voxpopuligallery.org.