TECH ART FAIR
A curated virtual exhibition of Tech Art Fair, Ontario Science Centre (Toronto), February 17-18 2018
All art media employ technology - from the paintbrush to the VR headset, technology has enabled the creation of art from the beginning of human expression. 21st century artists are actively incorporating the latest technology into their studio practices. Coding electronics to create interactive work, incorporating the Internet of Things into live installations, and creating wearables that respond to a user's body are only a few examples. These new tools, used alongside very traditional tools, are rapidly expanding art's possibilities, and changing the understanding of art disciplines and media. Tech Art Fair, at the Ontario Science Centre February 17-19, will showcase the aesthetic and creative potentials of technology in the hands of artists.
Strands of interest:
#home by Joel Ong and Trappist Sounds by Matt Russo and Rick Hyslop may be the most interesting pieces for audience participation and co-creation using harmony and rhythm to explore the orbits of the distant planets. Rainmaking on Mars by Betty Zhang, a multiplayer musical instrument is made for very specific audience, the first Mars One one-way travelers, but it will lead visitors in exploring general needs of a Human, in the same way the Digital Waterbottle, designed by a group of OCADU students, will.
A good example of the Citizen Art presented is a socially conscious performative artwork Kids Build Cities, by Naama Blonder. A large-scale board game is made to spark the conversation about the urban planning of Toronto. Wooden Automata by Al Conquergood and Selfy, a hand painted self-portrait on a ceramic sculpture by Nebojsa Stojkovic are both very contemporary satirical, socially conscious artworks made with very old technologies. The Transmogrifier, an interactive digital mirror, places technological mediation front and center in the hands of a visitor.
Downing Project by Miriana Downing questions the historical controversy a tool choice can make in creating art. Computer technology as a tool makes an interesting curatorial premise for juxtaposing brand new artwork by emerging artists Kyungmin Kate Lee and Jude Abu Zaineh, to the work made by Robert Downing at the very end of his long career inspired by the Mathematics. Lilwatan, by Jude Abu Zaineh, Gunpowder Archemy, by Dan Jay, and Microsculptures by Jess Holz are made using tools used in science, and Peggy Muddles’ pottery explores Microbial Life, a fascinating new frontier in medicine and engineering.
Participating Tech Art Fair artists: Raul Altosaar, Naama Blonder, Kirk Clyne, Al Counquergood, Mariana Downing, Allyson Glenn, Catherine Hodgson, Jess Holz, Dan Jay, Mikayla Seung Hwa Koo (with Winnie Chen, Priscilla Lee, and Yifei Li), Peggy Muddles, Joel Ong, Ann Poochareon (with Mark Argo), Matt Russo, Spencer Saunders (Art and Science), Nebojsa Stojkovic (Stojkovic Art), Emily Sweet, Jude Abu Zaineh, and Betty Zhang
Tech Art Fair is presented by the Ontario Science Centre in collaboration with: SciArt Center, Propeller Centre, Art the Science, and Daily Goods Design LABS
Strands of interest:
- Human Element - ideas, objects, experiences that were inspired by specific audience
- Experimental Tools - devices or machines that aid in accomplishing specific task
- Experiential - experiments focused on the process of work and sensory experiences, sight, sounds, touch, etc.
- Citizen Art - socially conscious artwork that considered the relationship and implications of technology and art
#home by Joel Ong and Trappist Sounds by Matt Russo and Rick Hyslop may be the most interesting pieces for audience participation and co-creation using harmony and rhythm to explore the orbits of the distant planets. Rainmaking on Mars by Betty Zhang, a multiplayer musical instrument is made for very specific audience, the first Mars One one-way travelers, but it will lead visitors in exploring general needs of a Human, in the same way the Digital Waterbottle, designed by a group of OCADU students, will.
A good example of the Citizen Art presented is a socially conscious performative artwork Kids Build Cities, by Naama Blonder. A large-scale board game is made to spark the conversation about the urban planning of Toronto. Wooden Automata by Al Conquergood and Selfy, a hand painted self-portrait on a ceramic sculpture by Nebojsa Stojkovic are both very contemporary satirical, socially conscious artworks made with very old technologies. The Transmogrifier, an interactive digital mirror, places technological mediation front and center in the hands of a visitor.
Downing Project by Miriana Downing questions the historical controversy a tool choice can make in creating art. Computer technology as a tool makes an interesting curatorial premise for juxtaposing brand new artwork by emerging artists Kyungmin Kate Lee and Jude Abu Zaineh, to the work made by Robert Downing at the very end of his long career inspired by the Mathematics. Lilwatan, by Jude Abu Zaineh, Gunpowder Archemy, by Dan Jay, and Microsculptures by Jess Holz are made using tools used in science, and Peggy Muddles’ pottery explores Microbial Life, a fascinating new frontier in medicine and engineering.
Participating Tech Art Fair artists: Raul Altosaar, Naama Blonder, Kirk Clyne, Al Counquergood, Mariana Downing, Allyson Glenn, Catherine Hodgson, Jess Holz, Dan Jay, Mikayla Seung Hwa Koo (with Winnie Chen, Priscilla Lee, and Yifei Li), Peggy Muddles, Joel Ong, Ann Poochareon (with Mark Argo), Matt Russo, Spencer Saunders (Art and Science), Nebojsa Stojkovic (Stojkovic Art), Emily Sweet, Jude Abu Zaineh, and Betty Zhang
Tech Art Fair is presented by the Ontario Science Centre in collaboration with: SciArt Center, Propeller Centre, Art the Science, and Daily Goods Design LABS
Virtual exhibition: SciArt Highlights from Tech Art Fair
RAUL ALTOSAAR
Raul Altosaar's Liquified Realities: An Homage to a Dying Megacity is an immersive, multilayered virtual reality environment and soundscape. Liquified Realities is both disorienting and familiar, presenting a world which appears to be mixing dimensional and aesthetic planes. Altosaar's piece will be live at Tech Art Fair, co-creating a reality with each viewer.
KIRK CLYNE
Kirk Clyne's Fleeting Glimpses is a real-time generative artwork which drives the evolution and movement of cube components by random chance, endlessly compiling Escher-like cityscapes in a pale magenta world. Fleeting Glimpses will be live at the Tech Art Fair.
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JESS HOLZ
Jess Holz's "Microsculptures" series allows us to explore the world on the level of the millimeter. Plant and insect materials appear as large as landscapes and buildings in her compositions, reminding us of the similarity of life on all scales. These micrographs are created with a scanning electron microscope, and will be on display at Tech Art Fair.
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DAN JAY
"Gunpowder Archemy," a series by Dan Jay, is made from volatile chemicals. Remaining unmixed on canvas, in their fluid state these chemicals have the potential to cause explosions, speaking to the power of a material being dependent on the hands they are used by. Jay's works will be on view at Tech Art Fair.
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JUDE ABU ZAINEH
"Lilwatan" by Jude Abu Zaineh is a series of videos which transform the surfaces of cultured bacterial petri dishes into glowing Islamic art-inspired abstract symmetries. First drawing with bacteria and then filming the results, Zaineh's pieces will be displayed at Tech Art Fair on old-style television sets, evoking a nostalgia for the past and her home country of Palestine.
BETTY ZHANG
Betty Zhang's Rainmaking on Mars is designed to mitigate the rigors of a Mars mission by synthesizing one thing the red planet is missing - the sound of rain. This multiplayer musical instrument plays calming tones overlaid on rain sounds in response to the user's touch. Simple yet effective, Zhang's piece makes a strong argument for a place on Earth's extraterrestrial packing list. This piece will be live at Tech Art Fair.
This virtual exhibition of SciArt Highlights from Tech Art Fair is presented in partnership with:
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