Heterotopia and virtuality

Heterotopia and virtuality are also intertwined in the practice of Vancouver-based artist Steven Shearer. Canada's representative at this year's Venice Biennale, Shearer is best known for his hallucinogenic paintings of metalheads, however, he has also produced series of digital prints that rcpurposc the spontaneous community libraries created by subcultural groups on the Internet. The social dimension of Shearer's subject matter in his "archive" series--which he dubs "proletarian folk art"--suggests parallels with Podesva's heterotopic virtual library.