[Stanza / Sensity / 2004-09]
Those that have been reading this blog for a while know that I tend to keep an eye on the work of artist/theorist Jeremy Hight (interviewed on Serial Consign here), an individual who has undoubtedly defined his practice by keeping his ear to the ground when it comes to location, narrative and media. Re-drawing Boundaries is an online exhibition hosted on the Leonardo Electronic Almanac web portal curated by Hight (with Lanfranco Aceti and Christiane Paul) dedicated to cataloguing the work of key-innovators in locative media and the nebulous constellation of related practices that has emerged over the last decade. The exhibition will unfold over the course of the summer by showcasing selected works from an impressive roster of artists including: Kate Armstrong, Mez Breeze, Jonah Brucker Cohen, Douglas Repetto, etc. The selected practices are quite incisive and varied enough that I anticipate the final body of work could serve as a handy crash course in the recent history of media art and—as far intergenerational mashups are concerned—it is great to see Natalie Jeremijenko and Buckminster Fuller's names in such close proximity.
I'm particularly interested in the high percentage of Re-drawing Boundaries participants whose work deals with mapping and representing urban space. Work from the archives of Carlo Ratti (SENSEable City Lab) and Stanza has already been posted with more to come from Esther Polak, Christian Nold and Sarah Willams (Spatial Information Design Lab). Also, note the interviews (PDF'd) with many of the practitioners conducted by Hight – I like this statement by Stanza where the UK-based artist encapsulates the context of his work:
The patterns we make, the forces we weave, are all being networked into retrievable data structures that can be re imagined and sourced for information. These patterns all disclose new ways of seeing the world. The value of information will be a new currency as powers change. The central issue that will develop will be the privilege and access to these data sources. Uses of this information and data should allow rich new interpretations of the way our world is built, used, and designed.
…that is definitely a mission statement I could get behind. Consider tuning into Re-drawing Boundaries this summer as I anticipate the attention will be well rewarded. I plan on posting an essay response to several of the featured works so I'll revisit this curatorial project later in the summer.
Chema Cobo
Marc Chagall
Chema Madoz
