It is early evening on a warm summer night, outside the Art Cinema Cafe. It is a typical First Friday on Superior Street in downtown Chicago, when all the galleries have new shows starting.

On the street everyone is gallery-hopping. They are holding plastic cups with small amounts of white wine in them chatting in small groups outside of gallery doors. Lots of milling about.

Julia and Ben get out of a cab and go to a warehouse looking structure. They show their invitations at the door and are allowed to enter.

The inside of the building is very raw and open -- a former warehouse. The music is Japanese hip-hop.

There are several movie theater size projection screens very high on the walls. It's hard to look anywhere in the room without seeing them. There are completely different scenes going on on each one.

We see all the plumbing exposed and heating ducts and beams but they are brightly painted in primary colors. There are stages on different levels built on scaffolding all through the warehouse with different "happenings" going on on each one. Interspersed are bars with bartenders, table of hors d' oeuvres and settings with couches and chairs grouped into conversation groups. Ultra-postmodern techno-artworks fill all remaining space -- things from SIGGRAPH art shows, Ars Electronica, ISEA, etc...

Ben and Julia go to one of the bars and each gets a white wine. They stand there drinking and trying to take in everything that is going on. There are a lot of people there but it doesn't feel crowded. There is a lot of STUFF going on but it is not too noisy and not overwhelming.

They watch the screens. On one there seems to be a party going on. You can just barely hear what they're saying and after concentrating on it for a few minutes you realize that it's a working-class pub in Northern England and everyone there is having a VERY good time. Someone in the Art Cinema Cafe catches the eye of someone in the screen, raises a glass -- the other returns the toast

Another screen is showing a political insurrection -- riots, war...

Another screen has some dancer completely covered in a body suit that glows and changes color according to the quickness of her movement or the type of movement she makes. The colors range from a deep red to a neon swirling chartreuse with blues being the middle level. She seems to be in a black void. She is doing very slow gyrating motions. Almost seeming underwater. Sometimes the background switches to a Donna Cox / NCSA fluid-dynamics simulation -- brightly colored swirls are sensuously twisting across the picture...Very sensual.

Against one wall is something that looks like a glowing screen, but it is a bit different. It appears to be made up of angular, colored planes, like a cubist painting.

People are interacting with it. Someone touches the object. An "X"-mark lights up where she touched, as if it were a touch-sensitive computer screen. Someone else touches the object some distance away from the "X". Another "X"-mark appears.

Then the object begins to change. A black line appears, through the two "X"-marks. Then the entire screen "fractures" at the line. One side of the line moves slightly inward, while the other side moves slightly outward. Angular shapes cut by the line change colors, to the shapes are all sharply contrasted with each other.

It is a kinetic, interactive sculpture in bas-relief. If one were to look closely, the surface would appear as a large-scale, mechanical pin-screen.

Across the room, another screen is showing a shuttle launch, work on the International Space Station -- the promise of a better life off of the Earth...

Another screen is showing the process of making Hershey's Kisses. We see big paddles stirring chocolate in giant vats and chocolate being squirted out on to a conveyer belt. Then the wrappers being put on and the candies bagged.

Another screen is showing very dull dry political speeches. You can't hear what the politician is saying all you can do is watch their lips flap.

Another screen is watching an open marketplace in Cairo. You see shoppers with bags feeling fruit and gossiping with the shopkeepers. Early in the morning going about their business.

Another screen is showing a milling machine carving out a face in Styrofoam in three dimensions. Under this screen on one of the raised scaffoldings you see someone sitting in a chair and a laser playing beams of light around and around them. This is the Cyberware 3-D scanner in operation. The subject is being "scanned".

Julia is absolutely mesmerized and starts to walk toward the scanning in progress. Ben sees Theodora and stops Julia to introduce her to Theodora.

Ben calls, "Theo!"

Theodora welcomes them, "Ben, you made it. Thank you so much for coming." She looks at Julia questioningly.

Ben introduces them, "Theo, I want you to meet Julia. Julia Smithson, Theodora White."

Theodora sounds slightly disappointed, under her role as the hostess of this grand evening. "I'm happy you could join my celebration." She shake hands with Julia.

Julia gushes, "I wouldn't miss it. Tell me is it true Gya Mon is going to be here?"

"Oh, yes, Gya Mon will be here.", Theo replies, "Well, he said he would. He'll probably bring a whole entourage. You won't miss him." Suddenly realizing they may be friends, Theo asks, "Are you a friend of his?"

Julia admits, "Well, I don't really know him, I study at one of his camps." She feels slightly uncomfortable changes the subject. "Tell me, what is going on over there on that platform?"

Theodora looks toward where Julia is indicating. "That person is being scanned."

Julia looks questioningly at her and Theo continues, "That artist scans people with a laser and then makes sculpture of their features using an industrial computerized milling machine. He's using Styrofoam for this demo, but he can use wood, stone or wax for bronzes."

Julia gushes, "He's got to do me!"

Theodora elaborates, "Well, see the screen over the work? That is a video link with a sculptor doing the same thing in Paris. They are trading information back and forth. They have the whole evening choreographed. I don't think they'd make any additions."

Julia grows more persistent, "Oh please ask him! Oh, Ben, wouldn't that be fun?"

"If you think so," Ben offers, "Julia if they already have the whole evening choreographed the artists aren't going to change their schedules just for you."

"You don't think so?" Julia is put off, "Ben you don't think I can be persuasive?"

Ben replies dryly, "I never said that. Theo, she thinks it would be fun."

"I must admit it is." Theo says, "O.k, I'll ask him. Maybe if you'll do a different pose. He is tired of doing faces." Theodora, Ben and Julia walk toward the stage.

Larry, Steve, Hedley, and Benson have arrived, walk in and start looking around, trying to take everything in. They look a little like school-boys going to their first dance. They bump into each other and stand very close in a group in the door-way. They are obviously out of their element. The only one looking confident is Larry.

Larry asks, "Does anyone see Theodora?"

Hedley asks in return, "And what pray-tell does a Theodora look like?"

Larry says, "She's the owner. She'll be looking like she's in charge."

Benson is watching what he thinks is a transvestite talking to a group nearby. He says, "I don't know if I want to know."

Steve breaks the ice, "Well, how about some drinks gentlemen?" He gently guides Larry towards a bar.

Benson agrees, "Yes, a drink is a good thing."

Before they get to the scanning event Ben sees Roman on one of the lower stages. Leaving Julia and Theo Ben starts walking toward Roman.

Roman is a heavy-set gentlemen with grey hair and a scholarly demeanor. He is a pioneering computer artist from forty years ago. Roman is involved in a deep discussion with a man, but of course all discussions with ROMAN are deep. ROMAN is standing in front of his computer plotter, which is actively drawing. The pen of the plotter is doing an eccentric dance over the paper. To Roman, the dance itself is as important as the finished work.

Roman is saying, "So you see I add the gold leafing later." He looks up and sees Ben. He reaches out for him and they embrace. Roman says, "Ben, I didn't know you would be here, this is marvelous."

Ben says, "Roman it's so good to see you. How is Alice?"

Roman replies, "She's well, very well. She didn't feel up to traveling though. If she'd known you were going to be here she probably would have come."

Ben admits to his struggles, "Well, I didn't know if I would reach a stopping point in my work."

As always, Roman understands, "So things are going well! I know you, you wouldn't leave a project unless it were."

Ben chuckles, "You know me pretty well."

There is a little bit of a commotion going on over in the direction of the scanning. Roman and Ben look over and see Julia, standing stark naked, up on the scaffolding posing like "Winged Victory" and is being scanned. Multi-colored lines of laser light are passing over her body as robotic arms move about her, capturing her contours.

Roman clears his throat. "Goodness!"

Ben, looking in the same direction, sighs, then gestures with his outstretched arm, "Roman, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Julia."

Just then Gya Mon and his entourage enter the gallery. Gya Mon is a pale man in his forties, pudgy, soft and doughy-looking. He wears white robes and round, rimless pink glasses.

Gya Mon's eyes go immediately to Julia on stage. He very much likes what he sees.

Theodora sees Gya Mon and walks over to him. She greets him like an important client. One can see that Gya Mon is either very important or very rich. Theodora is making a fuss over him. After they converse for a minute, Gya Mon draws Theo's attention to Julia on the stage. He is asking Theo who Julia is.

The scanning finishes. Julia steps over behind a translucent screen and puts her dress back on. Theo leads Gya Mon over to Julia who is stepping down the platform.

Theo says, "Julia, someone wants to meets you. Julia Smithson I'd like you to meet Gya Mon."

Julia and Gya Mon shake hands but Gya Mon does not let go of her hand while she says, "I'm one of your students."

Still holding Julia's hand he gently strokes it, "How lovely, at which camp do you study?"

Julia replies nervously, "I'm in the San Francisco area."

Gya Mon muses, "Oh, Camp Tranquillity."

Theo breaks the mood by suddenly typing on a nearby key-board. She says, "You know, Julia, from this scan, Kiro Nagasuchi in Paris can create an outfit custom-fitted to you ..."

A couple more key-strokes on the keyboard and Theo has switched focus to an I-Talk session onto a nearby six-foot-high screen. She continues, "It's really amazing to put one of his dresses on for the first time -- you really should go for it."

The I-talk session is now connected to Nagasuchi's studio in Paris. It is 8:00AM in Paris...

Theo speaks first, "Bonjour..." An assistant to the designer is answering the I-Talk session. She speaks French, but her picture is automatically overlaid with English subtitles on the screen as she speaks. The cadence of the subtitles follows that of the spoken words. The I-Talk server is translating on the fly.

Theo introduces Julia, the potential client. They discuss custom fashions, the assistant brings up some video of models showing examples of the work.

Theo brings up a three-dimensional model of Julia's full-body scana which has just been made.

The assistant exclaims, "Oh! I think you will be perfect for one of Monsieur's creations. He will want to talk to you. Hold the line please. He would kill me if I let you go without speaking to you."

Monsieur comes on the screen and speaks to Julia. Julia is totally engrossed in talking to the designer so Theodora leaves her. As she passes Ben, she says to him, "Also, there's Carlo Rossini in Carrara who can carve her in marble. I can also "FAX" him the data from her scan right now if you want..."

Ben replies, "Oh, no thanks. I think she's got me in deep enough with the dress at the moment."

Gya Mon has been watching Julia all this time. He shoots a spiteful glance at Theodora and walks away back towards his entourage where he is engulfed by them.

Theo answers a couple of questions from her manager about putting more food out.

Theo is walking around the room surveying her domain when she spies Larry and his group. She laughs a little because they stand out amongst the elegantly and creatively dressed people. She walks over to them and gently takes Larrys hand. Larry smells Theo's perfume, he knows it's she and they hug passionately.

Theo whispers into Larry's ear and he murmurs in agreement. Benson and Hedley are getting a big kick out of this, they have big shit-eating grins on their faces. It turns to amazement when Theo grabs Larry's behind and crushes her body into his.

Theo comes to her senses and takes a step back from Larry. She shakes her hair out a little and notices Larry's friends are watching.

Theo laughs, "Larry, you made it. I'm so sorry, I should have sent a car or a taxi for you."

Larry disagrees, "Theo, don't be ridiculous. If I wanted a car or taxi I would have called for one. I wanted to bring my friends from work."

Theo says, "Yes, of course you're right. Friends? Oh from Fermi Lab. How nice to meet you."

Larry says, "I brought Hedley," who shakes hands with Theo. "And Benson," Benson and Theodora shake hands. "And Steve."

Theodora raises her eyebrows because she doesn't see anyone else who looks like they fit into this group standing nearby.

Benson helps Larry out, "I don't know where Steve went. He was here a minute ago.

Larry says, "I hear computers and machinery running, my guess is Steve's checking it out."

Hedley asks facetiously, "Do you think he even noticed the naked woman on the stage?

Larry realizes he has missed something important, "Naked woman on a stage?"

"You mean 'Winged Victory'?", Theo explains, "a woman just had a full body scan for the BodyFax computerized milling machine demonstration."

Larry is crestfallen, "I thought you guys were my friends. You didn't even tell me!"

He reaches for Theo's hand and asks, "Can I feel the scan?"

Theo teases, "Only on the screen dear." Larry playfully grabs her and hugs her.

Applause erupts from the crowd on the far end of the gallery as a performance has begun on the screen on the far wall.

In actuality, it is Fiorella Terenzi's concert at FermiLab. The other screens now show large rooms full of people in obviously separate and quite different locations and settings, all witnessing the same performance.

Fiorella is totally absorbed in her music. This is the sensual expression -- the sensualization -- of everything she knows intellectually about astronomy and the cosmos. Images she projects in her concert hall are of the deep cosmos -- galaxies, nebulae in beautiful color. The images are also transmitted to screens in Theo's gallery simultaneously as well.

The music builds, and with it, the cheers of the audiences becomes more excited. The effect on the Fiorella is intoxicating. These thousands of people, all over the world, are responding to her every note, her every move in real time...

As every eye in the gallery is focused on the performance, Gya Mon approaches Ben, "I hear you are good with Internet Media. I'd like you to consider doing an on-line presentation of my work."

"Excuse me?" Ben is stand-offish.

"I am so sorry," Gya Mon say in his silky tones, "Please let me introduce myself....."

Julia sees Ben and Gya together and leaves one conversation to join theirs.

"Ben, sweetie," Julia offers, "this is my master....."

The look on Ben's face is surprise.

Julia explains, "The master of the yoga group I have been studying with! I'd like to introduce Yoga Master Gya Mon. Gya, this is my boyfriend Benjamin Cavallaro."

Ben and Gya nod toward each other.

Julia continues, "Ben owns his own company. He specializes in building unique systems for people."

Gya Mon states, "Yes, I must admit I am familiar with Mr. Ben's work. My teachings may be rooted in ancient times but it is important to to stay familiar with modern times as well."

Julia says, "Of course you're right."

Gya Mon says to Julia, "I recognized him from his picture in this year's SIGGRAPH Publications." Then he turns to Ben, "I admire your work Mr. Ben. That is why I am approaching you about the possibility of involving you in a little project I am interested in financing."

Ben protests, "I am heavily involved already in quite a complicated project Mr. Mon...."

But Gya Mon interrupts, "Oh, this is such a simple idea I have. It is probably far beneath your capabilities. I'm sure it wouldn't take much of your time."

Julia is enthralled at the idea of Ben working with her spiritual advisor, "Ben, would you consider it, for me? Just look at it?"

Ben relents, "I am at a stopping point in my own project. All right, call me Monday and we'll talk about it."

Gya Mon bows slightly, "I am in your debt sir."

Elsewhere in the gallery, the energy feedback loop continues of Fiorella's performance and her global audience' response.

Copyright 2000 Stewart Dickson and Rebecka Dickson