Ari Lankin has been aware of the dualistic effect the Internet has had on our generation since the late 90's. He is an 80's baby that grew up on a Commodore 64, reruns, and was part of one of the last generations to remember life before cell phones. He has fond memories of connecting with people by calling into bulletin boards on his 300 baud modem. That was his first kiss of the Internet, and he has experienced the plunge into the world wide web ever since. It is not a surprise that SaveArtSpace's exhibition Fragments of Content struck a chord and inspired him to create Janus.

The title of the piece is inspired by Janus, the roman god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, and endings. Janus presided over the beginning and ending of conflict, and hence war and peace. As a god of transitions, he had functions pertaining to birth and to journeys. -Wiki

SaveArtSpace: Fragments of Content aims to investigate the representative and interpretive nature of how the Internet has changed our perceptions of the world around us. Living in a digital age, we are faced with a constant interconnectivity, exposing us to an abundance of knowledge, imagery and stimuli. This experience of constant simulacra begs the question of all its participants: are we responsible for determining whether technology will enhance or destroy our society? While we simultaneously form new pathways and devise solutions to create progress using technology and connectivity, are we also alienating and disconnecting from our shared cultural values through our broadband connections?

Since its emergence as the key form of communication in the late 20th and early 21st century, the Internet has defined itself as both a tool and a weapon of Western Culture. It can concurrently deliver information at the speed of thought, but it can also use that information problematically, fashioning a cudgel that bludgeons nuance and depth just as quickly. Data mining, unwarranted mass surveillance, advertising, hacking, online warfare—all of these go hand in hand with the freedom of information and the ability and access to networks beyond our physical realms. The Internet has long been a space where artists have responded to these questions and engaged with it as medium and site of influence, creating new expressions and experiences that both question and inform us of how our IRL lives are now deeply intertwined with our URL existence. Fragments of Content seeks to use the digital medium of the Internet, manifest in the physical world, to explore this liminality in our shared experience online, examining the juxtaposition of how rich and valuable the Internet can be and how dangerous and deceptive it can become at the click of a link.