Response to Invitation by the Artist Lee Ming - Sheng for the work entitled "More Than A Sketch And An Image" Title of Response: " Let I = The Avatar M. River (AKA More Than a Construct And A Body)"

Introduction One day in the year 2001 an email came to me from an artist I have never met. Ming Lee - Sheng asked me to take part in an artwork. He or She (sorry, gender signs are often vague in email) states: "in this project I am inviting written contributions from active artist, art critics and curators in response to questions on their backgrounds and life philosophy, with a view to showing the interrelationship between an individual's life experience and his or her practice in the field of art " Of course, as you can tell if you are reading this text now, I said yes. Unfortunately, there is a slight problem. Not exactly a problem but more of a condition. My name is not Mark River. My body was born under another name. Mark River is a online construct. It is a character that was created for the formation of internet and real world artworks in the collaborative (with the artist T. Whid) known as MTAA. (Hey, at this point you should stop reading this and take a look at the MTAA website http://mteww.com. This will give you a better idea as to what I am trying to say here...well maybe...) Anyway, like I saying, Mark River is a real time fiction. But like all avatars, I think it (or should I say I?) needs a creation story. So, in response to Lee Ming - Sheng's nine questions about my life, this fiction is Mark River's story. Next page >