World of Awe · Yael Kanarek

An integrated media project exploring an alternative world narrative, World of Awe follows a gender-neutral digital traveler who crosses a portal at 419 East 6th Street in Manhattan into a parallel world called Sunset/Sunrise, searching for lost treasure. The work challenges "oppressive laws of our physical reality" through Internet-based expression at worldofawe.net. The 2004 exhibition at bitforms gallery featured new physical works alongside the online project, including SPIN_LOCK — an organza ribbon distributing Linux kernel files — and Feedback-Loop, a computer screen stripped to its metal frame with candle, pearl, and parchment. These physical manifestations extend the digital narrative into gallery space, bridging the virtual world of Sunset/Sunrise with tangible objects and materials.