Contemporary art, especially installation, is a challenge.

Done well, it heightens the senses and enhances experience. It communicates. It’s a celebration of both medium and message. Done poorly, it screams, “Look what I can do with my computer/projector/iPod!”

Last weekend, “Without Borders 2” brought together emerging artists from the United States, Italy and France to explore the effect of media and technology on art and communication. Their installations filled an unfinished portion of the Freese’s Building in Bangor.

The space was both better and worse than the inaugural year’s venue on Ayers Island in Orono – better because there were no technical glitches, worse because at times, it was difficult to tell where one piece began and another left off.

In the end, it didn’t really matter. The sense of discovery still tantalized as I moved from one room to the next. Blue lights beckoned. The sound of falling dominoes echoed in a large, empty space. Dizzying video of tires – or was it pavement? – danced on a wall. Fiddles sang as I walked in on a group of musicians jamming in the hall. Actually, it was a projection of a hall and a jam session, but it felt real.

The event’s organizers, faculty from the University of Maine, Ecole Nationale Superieure d’Arts de Paris in Cergy, France, and the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia, spoke of social change and networking, the environment and pollution.

An installation by UMaine grad Ryan Genz and Italian artist Francesca Rosella addressed all of these issues. They constructed a geodesic dome, rigged with “doodles,” tiny charms that flash to give cell phone users a visual idea of the radio waves their phones emit. Viewers were encouraged to ring their friends. When they did, the doodles lit up, causing people to at least think about the radiation that comes out of their phones and even curb their calling.

“Borders” had all the cool gadgets, projectors, speakers and distorted video we’ve come to expect from technology-based art. But is cool enough? Not for me.

Pure form has its place, as does a pretty pattern on a computer screen. But some of these works fade quickly from memory. Others, such as Renaud Patard’s “Safety Area,” resonated.

Patard, of France, strung a spider’s web of fluorescent string in a black lit room. At the center, a pedestal held an envelope, which in turn held an “important revelation.” The catch: If you tripped on a string, it would set off a paint grenade. Some people were too afraid to attempt the walk to the center. Those who did were rewarded with an adrenaline rush, a heavy dose of heart-quickening fear, and the revelation that the fun of a trip sometimes lies in the journey, not the destination.

As Patard and many of the artists in “Without Borders” proved, the best contemporary art isn’t just an imitation of life. It is life. And it never leaves the artist – or the viewer – feeling like he’s seen the emperor’s new clothes.

Kristen Andresen can be reached at 990-8287 and kandresen@bangordailynews.net.