OK Computer

In a million-plus years, art has evolved from drawings scratched on walls to pixels painted in cyberspace. And no one is more geeked about it than Margo Crutchfield, senior curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, who helped spearhead the All Digital exhibit opening today. "Nothing like this has been done in the United States at this scale," she says. "I have come to witness just how astounding technology can be. It's a field that's changing every five minutes."

The exhibit features works by such digital artists as Finland's Charles Sandison, New York's John F. Simon Jr., and Austria's Christa Somerer and Laurent Mignonneau. "It really deals with a global scope," says Crutchfield, who scoured the world to find new media pieces in software art, interactive installation, and digital animation. Pieces include everything from digital landscapes peopled by cartoon figures to abstract bunches of swirls and patterns. "A lot of the work is kinetic — it's moving, it's evolving," says Crutchfield. And it's all beamed onto laptop screens and museum walls. "We don't want a power outage," laughs Crutchfield. "Can you imagine if the switch suddenly goes off?"
Tuesdays-Sundays, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Starts: Jan. 20. Continues through May 31