computer art – Page 4 – Catherine Mason

Life on Mars?

Kelly Richardson, still from Mariner 9, 2012. Copyright the artist, reproduced with permission.

Kelly Richardson’s new work premiering at Whitley Bay (from 3 August), asks questions about our future in space exploration. Featured here is a still from Mariner 9, a 12 meter-long panoramic digital video installation of an imagined Mars centuries into the future, littered with the detritus of long-forgotten expeditions, evidence of mankind’s once optimistic future reduced to scrap. This detail shows the NASA space rover Curiosity due to land on Mars in early August, in an (imagined) semi-defunct state. This art work has been acquired by the Laing Art Gallery, another fine example of important national insitutions engaging with and actively collecting art with a strong digital element (see also the John Gerrard recently acquired by mima).

Kelly is our BCS selected artist this month. See the full image and read more here:http://www.bcs.org/content/conWebDoc/46091

A Material Investigation of the Digital

by Catherine Mason

Embroidered Digital Commons: Yarn (2009) Facilitated by Ele Carpenter, top: Amanda Thackray, bottom: Abi Nielsen; fabric and embroidery thread. Copyright the artist; reproduced with permission

This month’s article for the British Computer Society looks at Ele Carpenter’s on-going Open Source Embroidery Project and explores the strong historical and metaphorical connections between computers and textiles. This fascinating work, which consists of over 1,000 hand-embroidered patches (two are seen here) is based on the common characteristics of needlework crafts and open source computer programming. Read it in full:http://www.bcs.org/content/conWebDoc/45380

Virtual Landscapes Made Tangible

by Catherine Mason

Jeremy Gardiner, St Aldhelm's Head, 24 x 17 cm, 2012, 3D dome relief print. Copyright the artist; reproduced with permission — Jeremy Gardiner, St Aldhelm’s Head, 24 x 17 cm, 2012, 3D dome relief print. Copyright the artist; reproduced with permission

Jeremy Gardiner, the featured artist for the BCS this month, has spent decades exploring the ancient history of the Devon/Doreset coastline through his practice which employs a hybrid technique combining painting, drawing, printmaking, and use of digital technologies to which we can now add 3D printing. This relief model was made using solid freeform fabrication techniques (3D printing) from a series of cross sections of the landscape, based on LiDAR data and then hand painted. Read the full article here: http://www.bcs.org/content/conWebDoc/44574

Art takes place outside of the machine – Charles Csuri

by Catherine Mason

Charles Csuri Different from Us, frame 001, war16 series, 2012, Linus environment and AL

This striking new work by one of the great pioneers of computer art Charles A. Csuri, references and expands one of his original ideas Random War, a plotter drawing created in 1966. Random War (2012), is a new online version which uses gaming logics and the Internet to re-create a hypothetical war, based on our own friends, with people wounded, dead, awarded medals or missing in action, using names gleaned from our Facebook account. There is a delicious irony in using technology originally designed for defense purposes to create art that speaks to the consequences of such use. This art work is a powerful comment on the human cost of war and a stark reminder that every conflict has an after effect. Full article here: http://www.bcs.org/content/conWebDoc/44253

In Pursuit of the Slow

by Catherine Mason

John Gerrard, Cuban School (Community of 5th October), 2010. Realtime 3D software, custom made monitor (69x115x30cm) or projection, dimensions variable. Copyright the artist. Courtesy Thomas Dane Gallery, London and Simon Preston Gallery, New York. Reproduced with permission. Collection of mima, purchased with assistance of the Art Fund supported by the Sfumato Foundation.

In our world where the digital is almost by definition associated with high speed, quick manoeuvrability and near instantaneousness, it is an inspiration to learn of John Gerrard’s deliberately slower paced work – the subject of this month’s column for the British Computer Society and premiering in March at AV Festival 12 in conjunction with Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art. Read it here: http://www.bcs.org/content/conWebDoc/43887

A Bigger (Digital) Splash

by Catherine Mason

David Hockney, perhaps Britain’s most famous living artist, has never been one to shy away from the use of new technology. Whilst a student at the Royal College of Art he embraced acrylic paints when they were still quite new in the 1960s and has used the photocopying machine and a Polaroid camera to create collages, exploiting the unique characteristics of each of these mediums. Recently Hockney has turned to the iPad and this month’s image, from a group called The Arrival of Spring in East Yorkshire, was made on the iPad, printed out on a large scale and is currently on show at the Royal Academy, London. Read the full article here: http://www.bcs.org/content/conWebDoc/43630 See also a related post here:http://www.spiritofplacenorfolk.org/pages/aspects.html

A Machine that Makes Art

by Catherine Mason

Jack Tait, Turntable light drawing 14, 2011. Taitograph, dimensions variable. Copyright the artist, reproduced with permission.

The inspiration for this month’s BCS column comes from the great conceptual artist Sol LeWitt’s statement, The idea becomes a machine that makes the art (1967). Although LeWitt’s machine was metaphorical rather than literal, nevertheless this radical concept raised questions about the notion of art process and creative behaviour and challenged the notion of what art was or could be. This month we explore the history of the use of analogue mechanical systems and machines in art through the work of Jack Tait, seen above. Read the full article here: http://www.bcs.org/content/conWebDoc/43260

Optic Allsorts

by Catherine Mason

Self-Portrait with the WebCam by Alan Sutcliffe

To mark a year’s worth of writing about the world of computer arts for the British Computer Society’s on-line journal and as an end of year special, for December we are celebrating with a quartet of images submitted by readers. The four images by Alan Sutcliffe, Ursula Freer, Mark Thorpe and Nigel Williams reveal a kaleidoscopic mixture of digital technique, complexity, happenstance, experimentation and dazzling colour.

Read the full article here: http://www.bcs.org/content/conWebDoc/43024

Plotted Stitching

by Catherine Mason

Grayson Perry, Hold Your Beliefs Lightly, 2011. Computerised embroidery on cotton and silk, programming by Tony Taylor. 32.5 x 45cm, Edition of 250 plus 10 Artistï¿½s Proofs, copyright the artist, reproduced with permission, courtesy ofVictoria Miro

This month’s image is by Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry and shows he has more strings to his bow than pot-making. Hold Your Beliefs Lightly is a small flag featuring Alan Measles, Perry’s childhood teddy bear and source of inspiration in his art (he even has his own blog!) This comes from Perry’s current exhibition at the British Museum highly recommended for the artist’s intriguing selection of rarely-seen objects from the BM’s collection, interspersed with his own art works to create an interesting dialogue between objects and makers throughout history. Read it here: http://www.bcs.org/content/conWebDoc/42643

Ada Lovelace Day

by Catherine Mason

Today (Oct. 7) is Ada Lovelace Day, in commemoration of the 19^th-Century British mathematician who collaborated with Charles Babbage to create the early mechanical computer the Analytical Engine by writing algorithms. Because of this she is often called the first ‘computer programmer’. This Day aims to raise of the profile of women in science, technology, engineering and maths, who are still underrepresented in these professions.

Here is Ada, Countess of Lovelace painted in 1836 by Margaret Carpenter (1793-1872). The painting belongs to the British government and is currently located at the #10 Downing Street residence in London.

See my previous post of Lovelace quoted in this year’s Venice Biennale here

AND read Sydney Padua’s highly irregular , wild and wonderful webcomic about Ada’s life & times. This series has been running for over 2 years and has been hailed one of the best webcomics on the net. The amount of effort and artistry that goes into this work is truly inspiring.

Ada Lovelace Day is about giving heroines the credit they deserve, so why not visit the site FindingAda and share your story about a woman whether an engineer, a scientist, a technologist or mathematician who has inspired you to become who you are today. I’m nominating Prof. Jane Plant, one of Britain’s most eminent scientists, who offered scientific proof of dairy-free diets as a cure and prevention for breast cancer. Her first book Your Life in Your Hands was groundbreaking, daring as it did to challenge the status quo. I cannot recommend this book (and her subsequent ones) highly enough, particularly if you have a history of this hideous disease in your family. It changed the way I eat and gave me hope for a future free from disease