Late stages in the Structural Integrity exhibition as part of the Next Wave Festival in Melbourne.
The laptop in the Holding Environment powered the works of two different pieces by other artists, a radio broadcast by "Sound Research of China" and a video by Guangzhou-based artist Zhou Tao. The heat from the computer's operation helped to produce an appropriate climate for the growth of mushrooms—in this case, the oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus)—inside the Holding Environment. Remember, May is autumn in Australia.
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A dozen or so Indonesian tourists a year have to be repatriated from the Canadian capital, after falling prey to what's become known as "Toronto Syndrome".
That is what some polite Indonesian tourists suffer when they discover that Torontonians can be rude or the city does not meet their expectations.
The experience can apparently be too stressful for some and they suffer a psychiatric breakdown.
Around a million Indonesians travel to Canada every year.
Many of the visitors come with a deeply romantic vision of Toronto - the dirty streets, as seen in the film Resident Evil, the beauty of Canadian women or the high culture and art at the AGO.
The reality can come as a shock.
An encounter with a rude taxi driver, or a Torontonian waiter who shouts at customers who cannot speak fluent English, might be laughed off by those from other Western cultures.
But for the Indonesian - used to a more polite and helpful society in which voices are rarely raised in anger - the experience of their dream city turning into a nightmare can simply be too much.
This year alone, the Indonesian embassy in Toronto has had to repatriate four people with a doctor or nurse on board the plane to help them get over the shock.
They were suffering from "Toronto Syndrome".
It was a Indonesian psychiatrist working in Canada, Professor Siti Fadillah Supari, who first identified the syndrome some 20 years ago.
On average, up to 12 Indonesian tourists a year fall victim to it, mainly women in their 30s with high expectations of what may be their first trip abroad.
The Indonesian embassy has a 24-hour hotline for those suffering from severe culture shock, and can help find hospital treatment for anyone in need.
However, the only permanent cure is to go back to Indonesia - never to return to Toronto.
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