The basic structure of A Soa(p Op)era for Laptops uses laptop computers on radio controlled vehicles. The radio controls are operated by artists working on the project. Movement by the laptop/vehicle relies on a telematic idea of a person projecting them­selves into the vehicle. The physical manifestation of four laptops moving around a stage/arena presents a metaphor for the more abstract notion of networked consciousness. Using laptops that are essentially known as business tools and radio controlled cars favored by children creates a certain sense of bricolage, and adds a wry playfulness to this work. A Soa(p Op)era for Laptops uses Apple Powermac laptop computers with native Macintalk software and Opcode Max object oriented programming. For the "stage production" two more Powermac desktop models and a data projector are used to generate the immersive sound environment and backdrop animations. Briefly the Macintalk program allows a user to type text into a computer that can be read back in a variety of voices. Embedded commands allow for the voices to sing, speak slowly or rapidly, screech and mumble onomatopoeisms. The work is an ongoing discourse concerning late 20th century communication and mass media ideas. It is a work about the global communication envi­ronment. This environment created by movies, advertising and pop culture is trans-national. A Soa(pOp)era for Laptops recognizes this synthetic new world inspiring its thematic meta phors. Indeed networked computer environments and programming la ngu age along with the Internet are collapsing distance and creating synthetic cultures that are no longer nation-centric but exist in "cyberspace". In this new networked infrastructure, the scene within a scene of theater becomes a social space driven by program function, pop language and situational "spectacle" telematically presented through singing laptop synthespians.

G. H. HOVAGIMYAN (USA) IS A MULTIMEDIA AND NTERNET ARTIST. HE IS ONE OF THE CORE ARTISTS OF ARTNETWEB, A LEADING WEBSITE IN NEW YORK. HE IS A PROFESSOR OF ART IN THE COMPUTER ARTS DEPARTMENT AT THE SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS IN NEW YORK CITY. PETER SINCLAIR (GB) IS A MULTI-MEDIA ARTIST WHOSE MANY WORKS EXPLORE THE AREAS OF POP MUSIC, MECHANICAL ART, INSTALLATION ART, PERFORMANCE ART
AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY. HE IS A PROFESSOR OF ART AT THE ECOLE D'ART D'AIX-EN-PROVENCE.