As a pioneer of new art forms, Jeffrey SHAW has been experimenting with new fields and exhibiting his varied artworks since the latter half of the 1960s. Yet, one consistency evident throughout the development of his works has been the spirit of dialogue. It may well be accurate to call the persistence of this sensibility the chief reason so many important movements have, one after another, emerged around him.

For example, SHAW has suggested that the most fascinating aspects of life in our era do not lie in things limited to the real world or some fixation with imaginary worlds, but are found instead in the creation of imaginary spaces of dialogue with the bodily experiences of history and its real spaces. In other words, SHAW emphasizes the creativity of the border region where one foot rests in the real world, and the other in the world of fantasy.

The same can be said of SHAW's attitude toward new technologies. While one cannot deny the compelling and fascinating new areas that have been born from the development of new, ever-evolving technologies, still one has to recognize their frequent, relative poverty in comparison to the rich complexities that real experiences impart to humans as living beings. Put otherwise, we are obliged to constantly traverse this divide. And within these conditions, we are called upon regularly to give new meanings to technology. Both SHAW's precise grasp of the nature of this frontier zone and of this transitional period and his acute awareness of his generation, as one that must bridge the gap between historical and future experiences, have given his artworks a unique sense of dialogue.

SHAW, to whom collaboration comes naturally, has sought a dynamic dialogue and collaboration with other artists, engineers, and programmers in his efforts to bring art into a new dimension with the use of the latest media.

His present piece <<conFIGURING the CAVE>> is a joint production with well-matched collaborators Agnes HEGEDU and Bernd LINTERMANN. HEGEDU, whose previous works includes one project that creates an imaginary space of communication through the metaphor of gaming, and another that tests mutations of sensory perception and re-editings of the body, brings a varied depth and critical acumen to the current project. Meanwhile, LINTERMANN, involved in the creation of real time animation as well as interactive fantastic sculptures based on artificial life for the Web, contributed a unique sense of presence and precision.

For SHAW, art is a mechanism for broad dialogue, and the realm for an embodiment of the imagination. Yet, even more important is the dialogue it maintains with the person who views it, that fourth dimension that exists between the work and the viewer. In that space, the viewer's awareness and bodily experiences can be restructured and recreated. Perhaps we can say it is this process itself that has engaged SHAW for such a long time.