G.H. Hovagimyan: Cocktail Party
November 2001
G.H. Hovagimyan: Cocktail Party
G.H. Hovagimyan’s Cocktail Party features a series of synthetic party conversations delivered by computer-generated voices of various pitches and tones. The conversations take place across four virtual rooms: the den, garage, studio, and kitchen. When the work launches, users are randomly assigned to a room but can move to another by clicking “Enter Project” again on the landing page.
The work captures a machine’s attempt to simulate human social interaction, exploring the dynamics of small talk and chatter typical of parties and social gatherings. The conversations vary widely in content, from flirtation, arguments, ramblings, and insults to critical discussion of artworks and the role of the artist in a capitalist society.
As an internet and new media pioneer, G.H. Hovagimyan (b. 1950; Plymouth, Massachusetts) created projects ranging from hypertext works to digital performance art, interactive installations, and HD video. His works have been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the New Museum, New York; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Jeu de Paume, Paris; Musée d’Art Contemporain, Marseille; Musée d’Art Contemporain, Lyon; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Lincoln Center, New York; Institute for Contemporary Art Yerevan, Armenia; the Clocktower, New York; the Kitchen, New York; the Alternative Museum (1975–2000), New York; Eyebeam, New York; the MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts; La Gaîté Lyrique, Paris; Württembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart, Germany; STEIM Institute (1969–2020), Amsterdam; the National Centre for Contemporary Art, Moscow; Postmasters Gallery (1984–2025), New York; and the Pace University Digital Gallery (2003–13).
Gate Pages
Every month from March 2001 to February 2006, the Whitney invited an artist or collective to present their work in the form of a “Gate Page” on artport. Each page was meant to function as a portal to the artist’s own sites and projects. The Gate Pages comprise a range of artistic approaches to the format—while some of them are designed as entry points to the respective artist’s website or promote a recently launched work, others take the form of a more complex stand-alone project.
Wherever necessary and possible, these works are made functional through emulation and reconstructions from the Internet Archive. Not all of them have been restored to their original state and their conservation is ongoing. You can also view the original Gate Pages archive to see how they were presented at the time of their creation.
artport
View more on artport, the Whitney Museum's portal to Internet and new media art.