The 1's and 0's of Art
// December 30th, 2009 // View Comments // b-scene
Decode : Digital Design Sensations
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 8th December ’09 – 11th April ‘10
Being a designer and an art lover, when I heard about Decode at the V&A I knew I had to go, Jane from b-uncut’s team tagged along. These are our highlights from the show and some quotes from show brochure.
“Digital technologies are providing new tools for artists and designers. Innovative, often interactive, displays use generative software, animation and other responsive technologies to instill a ‘live’ element into contemporary artworks. Some works exist in a state of perpetual evolution; others are altered by the behavior of the spectator.”
On first entering The Porter Gallery you are thrown into darkness, the only light provided comes from Daan Roosegaarde’s Dune. At first you feel reluctant to touch but this is just the start to a truly interactive art experience. The plant like lights react to touch, running through them with your hands out is not only rewarded with a light show but they also create sound.
“From designs that draw on the barest fundamentals of code – the 1s and 0s of computational language made by a single programmer – to art that encompasses a global collective of online creativity, many of the exhibits here defy traditional design categories. They blur the boundaries between practices, between programming and performance, creator and participant.”
Artists using pure code have created some stunning visuals, from coded kaleidoscopes to wire frame music videos from radiohead by James Frost. Robert Hogin’s Flight404 is a sneak peak to the interactive wonder of Decode. Flight404 reacts to sound and creates beautiful ‘space’ like graphics. It takes awhile to get used to interacting with the art but once we had warmed up there was no stopping us.
Fabrica’s Exquisite Clock is a series of screens showing user taken images of numbers to create the ever changing clock. Now being warmed up we took the chance to download the iPhone app and start being apart of the art. Taking images of ourselves as different numbers we uploaded and waited. About 1min later we’re part of the art as we flash by on the seconds screens, how cool is it to become part of the art?? The online version still uses images of Jane, don’t know whats happened to mine! You can even add your own numbers via the website.
“Decode looks at three current themes within digital design. Code shows how computer code – whether bespoke and tailored, or hacked and shared – has become a new design tool. Interactivity presents works that respond to our physical presence. Network charts or reworks the traces we leave behind”
Mehmet Akten’s Body Paint & Ross Phillips Videogrid really sum up the interactivity of the whole show. Body Paint does exactly what is says on the tin, back lit you see your shadow on the huge screen, when you move your arms splashes of colour appear, the quicker you move the more intense the colour, this ended up with us looking like loony’s jumping around in front of the screen!
The Videogrid again does as it sounds, a huge projection of 25 5 second videos. Simply press which screen you’d like to record over and volia you are again a part of the art. I took this as a challenge to get myself and the slightly reluctant Jane on every screen, I think we got on about 8 of them! A great immersive installation that plays on the viewers vanity!
“Digital technologies allows for a wide range of reciprocal relationships between the work and the viewer. Both can respond, react and interact instantly. Digital works often use a combination of technologies – sensors, cameras, tracking – together with feedback and coding. Many of the works at Decode respond to gesture, tracing the presence of the viewer and translating this back into the work. They frequently incorporate images of the viewer. The pieces are immersive and the lines between design, interaction, play and performance are deliberately blurred.”
Decode gets a big thumbs up from me, it was a fantastic multi sensory art show, a must see for anyone interested in anything digital. Any art installation that can take the boring 1s & 0s of code and show them to be creative is worth a visit. The interactivity of Decode really shows that code and art can become one and push the boundaries of digital art. Imagine what will Decode will look like in 10 years……………
