Machinery and raw emotion collide in this drama of direct encounter between the human body and its technological extensions. In the most recent manifestation of The File Cabinet Project, installation and performance artist Istvan Kantor links his ongoing exploration of the sculptural system and kinesonic potential of the file cabinet to the abused and eroticized human body.

Kantor calls into question the current vogue for ideas such as the irrelevance of hard copy and the obsolescence of the body by highlighting and amplifying the fetish potential of both of these familiar information systems. With the title Intercourse, Kantor also directs attention to the possibility of information exchange between the various components of the exhibition, including the audience or gallery visitor. The gallery visitor thus enters into the gallery environment not only as spectator, but also as participant and accomplice.

In Intercourse, the audience directly activates and regulates a series of video images exploring the elemental engine of the body as it extends in cyberspace. One file cabinet acts as transmission machinery and control mechanism for the projected images, and also controls the robotics device that animates the other four cabinets – rocking them and creating a noisy response. Insisting on the physical, Kantor's Intercourse explores the possibility of mutation and the beauty of the relationship of body mechanics and electronics.

Click here to view an archive of the original Intercourse exhibition website.