It is so vital in
this day and age that Art keeps its finger on the 'pulse' of society.
As society moves towards consistently more advanced technological
innovation, and as we grow to depend on it more and more in daily
life, the necessity to explore technology from an artistic
perspective grows increasingly more prominent. This year the included
works trended towards technology to do with the body, although
cultural exploration, kinetic light colour mixing and artificial
intelligence all feature too.
First up was
George Poonkhin-Khut's winning contribution, 'Distillery'.
This heart- and breathing-monitoring program was designed for
iDevices to encourage paediatric patients to control their physical
responses to the stresses of treatment through compelling visual
stimulation. How wonderful to see such a significant medical tool
within this art context. By using a familiar device, rather than a
purpose-built medical gadget, it also emphasises that tech devices
don't, and shouldn't be limited to the frivolous means dictated by
their marketing. iDevices can save lives, too.
'Dream
Zone'
by Karen Casey is perhaps the most personal work of the exhibition. A
series of Casey's own dream-phase brain-wave recordings are projected
onto walls in a gentle, kaleidoscopic hypnosis. It's hard to stop
watching, and after only a minute or two, the work starts to induce
the viewer into a dream-like trance. 'Dream
Zone' comes
full circle, from Casey's own dreaming, to the viewer's subsequent
trance. It gives a beautifully poetic voice to media frequently
regarded as sterile and unexpressive.
Rather than
using technology to complement human function, Ian Haig's work, 'Some
Thing', uses technology to simulate
the body. Mechanisms and mixed media were rendered to appear humanly
physical, like a human body turned inside out. I was simultaneously
fascinated and repulsed by this visceral milieu of bone, flesh and
tissue. Haig challenges the viewer to consider their dependance on
such visually unsettling organs. 'Some
Thing' also draws a parallel to a
future of medicine that might see us able to replace failing vital
organs not with those from donors, but with mechanised substitutes.
It asks questions about humanhood, and whether such advancements make
us less human. Repulsive, poignant and beautiful.
Leah
Heiss' 'Polarity' juxtaposes
some nano-engineered magnetic solution into small-scale,
delicately-blown glass balls filled with water. Large hidden magnets
moving beneath the table cause the solution to form spikes, and flex
back and forth in an enchanting rhythm. The fluid, derived from
medical nano-technology, exists purely to address health issues in
the human body. To see it in a form where it adopts a humanistic
nature is poignant and poetic.
CRT:
h’ommage to Léon Theremin by
Robin Fox is a bright, loud work, driven by audience participation.
The tallest roller-coaster in this theme park, this work turns its
observers into participants. Jumping up and down, moving closer, or
farther away, interaction with the work brings the stacks of CRT
screens to vibrant life, while the theremins react in corresponding
pitch. It feels nonsensical, yet increasingly sensible. Without the
interaction, this work would lose all meaning. But then, the same
could be said for all new media.
Perhaps
one of the most significant achievements in this year's Awards was
the work 'Zwischenräume'
by
Petra Gemeinboeck and Rob Saunders. Its three small robots, contained
within a wall, are armed with cameras and sticks as learning tools,
to scope out their environment. As the exhibition progresses, the
wall that conceals them is punctured and they use their cameras to
view the outside world, and the observers looking in. It contains
such a wonderful metaphor for the growing interaction and
interdependence between society and the ever-more intelligent
technology that supports and supplements it.
If
the point of the NNMAA is to show us why technology has become such
an important medium in our age; why we are continually fascinated by
it; and why we are coming to depend on its influence in our lives,
then I would rule this year's batch a raging success. An absolute
delight to the senses, this year's collection remind us that as human
beings rely evermore on technology, technology has always been
reliant on human beings for a continued, purposeful existence. This
exhibition serves as an acknowledgement that we and technology are
moving towards a symbiosis, and it looks like the beginning of a
beautiful friendship.
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