Photo/Illutration Exonemo's exhibition is lined with old personal computers, with the floor being reminiscent of an electronic circuit board. (Wakato Onishi) 

Blurring the line between the real world and the virtual, artistic duo Exonemo's provocative solo exhibition is now running at the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum.

Since forming Exonemo in 1996, Kensuke Sembo (born in 1972) and Yae Akaiwa (born in 1973) have taken to tackling themes of the internet and online society.

The event "Un-Dead-Link: Reconnecting with Internet Art" casts a look back on their careers, with about 20 pieces from their early years to the present on display.

Entering the venue, visitors can spot cables running across the floor reminiscent of an electronic circuit board. The artworks are stylishly displayed, "connected" almost in a chronological order to show the changes the internet has undergone.

At the entrance, visitors are introduced to one of Exonemo's early works titled "Kao" (1996), which features a simple but cute face that appears on a TV screen, changing shape and color.

Originally, the art project involved a participant who would go online to send facial features arranged into a human face to the screen.

The features were then blended with a pre-existing face to create the face of a child out of the two. The unsophisticated design is a remnant of the internet's dial-up era.

The exhibits, including “Kao,” incorporate discolored computer mouse devices and other pieces of equipment that the artists used when they originally produced the works.

The pair have clearly retained their approach over the years that combines criticism and a sense of humor.

That makes Exonemo a rarity in the media art world, where concepts and techniques tend to take precedence.

Their video artwork "DanmatsuMouse" shows what happens to the cursor on the screen when a mouse connected to the computer is beaten, soaked in water and run through other rough treatment.

The piece keeps viewers wondering what will happen next while it prompts them to re-examine the relationship between the digital and real worlds.

"We've always explored the boundary between two worlds, like analog and digital or real and virtual," Sembo said.

This idea might be the reason why they set up part of the event as an "internet venue," which can be accessed from the museum's website.

The artists, who currently live in New York, managed to return to Japan amid the coronavirus pandemic to complete the exhibits.

"Our lives have become increasingly online-based, and we thought hard about how we could present artistic expressions on the internet in the current situation," Akaiwa said.

The situation the world has been thrust into due to the virus inspired their latest project, titled "Realm."

A video of a stunning cemetery, where Sembo and Akaiwa went for a stroll while New York was in lockdown, is featured both in the exhibition room and in the internet venue.

But when the video is accessed through a smartphone, only a blurred image appears on the screen.

The user's fingerprints will remain on the small screen if they touch it and also appear on the blurred image.

"Realm" takes a poetic dive into people's inner life amid the pandemic, contrasting video that can be seen but not touched and a screen that can be touched but cannot be seen clearly.

The show is packed with cutting-edge technology as well as a touch of arts and crafts. Sembo and Akaiwa said they hope visitors, including those who have grown up in the internet age, will retrace their creative journey spanning more than 20 years.

The exhibition runs until Oct. 11. The venue will be closed on Mondays.

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