Monthly Archives: August 2014

Electromagnetic Field 2014 – An Introduction to Glitch Art

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On Saturday 30th August I’ll be making a short trip to Electromagmentic Field in Bletchley to deliver a workshop about this newfangled thing called glitch art.

An Introduction to Glitch Art

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In this part theory, part practice workshop participants will be given a brief introduction into Glitch Art and its impact on art, music and popular culture. Participants will then have a practice session where they will delve into the common techniques utilised by glitch artists. Participants will need a laptop/computer (Mac/Windows/Linux) with the following software installed: GIMP, Audacity, a hex editor, and a good text editor such as Notepad++.

If you fancy getting your glitch on, the workshop will be taking place from 13:30 and will last two hours. Tickets for the whole weekend of events can be purchased this way.

I hope it’s not still hayfever season.

Ways of Something episode 2

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Earlier in 2014 I was invited by Lorna Mills to contribute a one-minute video to Ways of Something:

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Ways of Something”, is a contemporary remake of John Berger’s BBC documentary, “Ways of Seeing” (1972). Commissioned by The One Minutes, at the Sandberg institute in Amsterdam and compiled by Lorna Mills, the project consists of one-minute videos by fifty eight web-based artists who commonly work with 3D rendering, gifs, film remix, webcam performances, and websites to describe the cacophonous conditions of artmaking after the internet.

In the original episode one, voice-of-God narration over iconic European paintings offer a careful dissection of traditional “fine art” media and the way society has come to understand them as art. The second episode is a contentious and sometimes maddening look at the female nude in the western tradition.

The combined work is, in effect, art about art about television about the internet.

Featuring formal, figural and kitsch practices to videomaking, “Ways of Something” is constituted by aesthetically diverse interpretations of Berger’s ideas on looking at art after the introduction of digital media and the internet. Ultimately, it turns the highbrow nature of the original documentary film into a exuberant and disjointed series on how artists understand art today.

Ways of Something episodes 1 and 2 (my video is in episode 2) will be having its premier screening on September 6th at TRANSFER in New York, with many more screenings to follow. Keep watch of the Events page for upcoming screening dates.

Thanks again to Lorna Mills for asking me to be part of this project alongside so many awesome artists!

Left/Right Eye

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I recently went to get my eyes tested. I’m not blind – yay!. They gave me two rather neat photos of my eyes:

Right eye

Right eye

Left eye

Left eye

Looks like something a very murky planet.

University of Birmingham Artist in Residence

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I’m happy to announce that I have been accepted onto the University of Birmingham’s Artist in Residence programme for 2014-2015.

The University of Birmingham‘s Artist in Residence programme provides artists with a studio on campus and a unique chance to engage with the diverse range of cultural collections held here. The artists work alongside the University’s curators, conservators and researchers with the opportunity to forge new interdisciplinary relationships. They also work with the cultural engagement team, delivering a series of workshops and lectures to staff, students and the public, bringing an exciting active aspect to the University’s cultural offer.

Over the next year (August 2014 to June 2015) I’ll be working with the Culture and Collections department to look at the issues of copyright, resue, and reapprorpriation and how it affects their extensive collections. Below is an excerpt from my proposal:

Archive Remix

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As more people share their work online many questions have arisen over copyright, patents, intellectual property and remixing of artworks. Writers and artists such as Lawrence Lessig and Phil Morton have, through their work, argued that placing restrictive terms on an artwork prohibits creativity, rather than stimulates it.

In my practice I encourage engagement by releasing my work under so-called Copyleft licences (such as Creative Commons and GPL) that encourage the work to be reused, reinterpreted and remixed whilst still retaining authorship over original works. I also freely release all code, documentation and sources.

There have been many high profile cases of artists and institutions adopting similar approaches, such as The British Library releasing its image library into the Public Domain in 2013, and the Google Art Project, which, since 2011, has allowed users to view in very high-quality collections of artworks from 134 museums.

Through the residency I aim to work with the University to find effective methods for opening their collections to the public for them to be used, reused and remixed whilst still maintaining the integrity and reputation of the the University and Copyright holders.

Although I have proposed some outcomes for the residency – new tools built for remixing artworks, hosting a remix party, an exhibition of remixed works – this will all likely change as the residency progresses. You can follow the progress of my residency over at Archive Remix, and the academics amongst y’all can also view my Zotero library. Any major developments will also be posted here.

If y’all would like to talk about ideas, collaborations, meet me IRL in the studio, or just throw some suggested reading my way please do get in touch.

glitChicago

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I’ll be back in Chicago in September to take part in glitChicago at the Ukrainian Institute Of Modern Art.

glitchicago

Over the past decade Chicago has enjoyed a reputation as a center for artists within a worldwide subculture of experimentation in electronic media. Knit together by global communications networks, the tendency known as “glitch” or “glitch art” centers around the noisy and colorful errors propagated when electronic media systems and digital encoding are unexpectedly interrupted or misbehave.

Three festivals of “noise and new media” took place in Chicago from 2010 through 2012, with international reach. The ground for the festivals had been prepared by the city’s long history of alternative venues and distribution networks for art and music, particularly its lively electronic and noise music scene, its DIY apartment and cooperative galleries, and its early roots in open culture distribution of video and digital media. The historical messiness of Chicago art, from the Hairy Who on through “dirty new media” and over-the-top laptop audio and video improvisation nurtured a small but receptive audience for glitch. The popularity of glitch eventually attracted mass media interest: Glitch has shown up in mainstream music videos, commercial television and movies, and fashion.

glitChicago presents the work of 22 artists working with glitch in a wide variety of media. All have participated in the city’s glitch art scene, though they may come from other cities and indeed other countries.

I’ll be giving a performance on the 19th September, followed on 20th September by a round table discussion looking at glitch art from an art historical perspective, asking the question: Once we induct glitch art into art history, is glitch art dead?

I’m really stoked to be considered part of the Chicago glitch scene, which is quite a feat considering it’s nearly 4000 miles away!

Circuit Bending 101 – 10th September

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For all those with inquisitive minds, I’ll be hosting a circuit bending workshop as part of the British Science Festival on 10th September

circuitbending101

A three-hour workshop in which you’ll learn how to make unusual noises by creatively modifying toys and other devices.

Circuit bending is the creative art of making experimental modifications to toys and other small devices, making them perform in unexpected ways, making new sounds and discovering new functions. Explore the basics of circuit bending, including soldering, and try it out on your own battery powered toys or devices.

Buy tickets here: http://www.britishscienceassociation.org/british-science-festival/circuit-bending-101. The event will be taking place in the Education Room at the Barber Institue of Fine Arts.

This event is part of the British Science Festival 2014 taking place in Birmingham from 6-11 September. Details of all events are available online at www.britishsciencefestival.org. Tickets can be booked online or by calling 08456 807 207.

britishsciencefestival