Virtual Chaos by Leon Pericles

"Virtual Chaos was created in response to the anxiety and uncertainty that surrounded the turn of the millennium and the early years of the 21st century, when many feared that a mysterious 'bug' would cause global systems to collapse. At the time, predictions ranged from airplanes falling out of the sky to critical infrastructure failing without warning. Major organisations genuinely did not know whether aircraft would fly safely once clocks rolled over from 1999 to 2000, because everything - from navigation systems to scheduling - depended on time.

The possibility of air travel shutting down was frightening. Airports were filled with nervous passengers, some debating whether to board their flights and others glued to television screens. It was a moment thick with uncertainty, tension, and speculation.

Produced over 25 years ago, the work captures both the seriousness and the absurdity of the era. Despite the anxiety, there was humour and fascination in how society reacted. It was not a matter of fortune, but one of mastering and navigating a metaphorical tower of confusion. The so-called 'millennium bug' became a cultural monster, making no one comfortable with the date change. Banks worried, corporations spent heavily, and experts debated whether computer systems - designed to record years only up to 1999 - could correctly process the year 2000.

There was genuine concern that any system dependent on computers might fail. It was an anxious time, with media amplifying the story at every turn. Some companies paid significant sums to computer specialists to make sure their systems would survive. In the end, of course, we all made it through, and the media enjoyed the spectacle of anticipation.

Terms like 'Bug Remover', 'Millennium Bug' and even 'Gremlins' became part of the cultural vocabulary. The fear grew so large that it felt as though the bug could take over something as massive and iconic as the Sydney Harbour Bridge."   - Artist, Leon Pericles