It was our initial intention to sustain MIRAGE for 24 hours per day during the 8 week exhibition period. We wished to to create a net.art project which drew visitors to a local space into the poetry of MIRAGE with a seamless interface. In other words, we wanted MIRAGE to be site specific for the local gallery space, and constantly available for viewing via the www.

The first conflict arose when the telephone company did not install the specified telephone lines at Gallery F15, such that our server was disconnected each time someone sent a fax in the gallery's office.

Having rectified this problem, a heavy thunderstorm hit Gallery F15 and destroyed the modem of the receiving computer. So unfortunately, MIRAGE was out of drift for several days while a new modem was found and installed.

Still, with all hard and software and tele-lines present and correct, the installation needs some human maintainance from time to time, and it soon became evident that it was not enough to rely on one staff member to maintain the installation, as staff schedules fluctuate. There was also an economic concern regarding the durability of a relatively expensive projector bulb under constant 24 hour use. Therefore a decision was made to keep MIRAGE active only during the time when the gallery is open.

The above history confirms MOTHERBOARD's attitude that, as opposed to our curator's statement, net.art is totally dependant on time and space! Never the less, two weeks after opening our installation we totally support the curator's choice of title for the exhibition series at Gallery F15: JUST WHAT IS IT THAT MAKES THE INTERNET SO DESIRABLE SO APPEALING. For motherboard it is the potentiality to use the internet as a materie for generating this installation, as opposed to making browser art.