Collaborating as boredomresearch, Southampton based Vicky Isley and Paul Smith have gained an international reputation for interrogating the creative role of computing. Their enthusiasm for scientific modeling techniques and fascination with natural systems inspires them to produce beautifully crafted software art that presents an exciting alternative to our technologically fraught lives. boredomresearch aim to create engaging digital artworks, developing themes and crossing boundaries between science, art and technology. They have produced a number of interactive sound applications, public artworks, online projects and computational soundscapes which have been shown both nationally and internationally at events such as ACE, Hollywood (2006), Third Iteration, Melbourne (2005), SIGGRAPH, LA (2005), Transmediale.05, Berlin (2005), FILE04, Brazil (2004), NOW, Nottingham (2004), Data:base, Dublin (2003), Electrohype, Sweden (2002), Garage, Germany (2002) and within online exhibitions such as VIDA 7.0 Art & Artificial Life International Competition, soundtoys.net, mobilegaze.com and Dots & Line, BBC online exhibition. In their recent online works they have explored how users can engage and effect a web-based ecology, changing quantities and properties for others. Interested in building environments facilitating dynamic audience engagement. Working with net communities they have further explored concepts of ecology where users engaging with the work are able to influence its direction. This model is closely linked with notions of positive and negative feedback used in artificial intelligence where the work's community of users have a collective intelligence like that of an ants nest. boredomresearch is interested in developing projects that explore the aesthetic possibilities of dispersed audience participation. boredomresearch have recently produced a series of works for a national touring solo exhibition theatre of restless automata, these systems are inspired by in-depth research into artificial-life and digital biology playing on our receptivity for life like phenomena. By building intricately detailed systems that exhibit the aesthetics of life the works challenge our ability to critically discriminate between the product of an abstract mechanism and the sublime quality of life. In 2002 boredomresearch was awarded a year part-time Navvygate New media residency at Artsway, UK entitled Hello world. Within this residency they deconstructed computer programs to produce computational paper based artworks. Artists, students and curators with no programming experience took part in their workshops to produce flocking, movement and growth algorithms executed with paper and pen. This year residency explored computation and algorithm away from the computer in an attempt to unravel the mysteries of programming as a creative form of expression. It is difficult to find new and exciting methods of teaching new technology, but boredomresearch's creative approach to running workshops is found to be a refreshing method of learning and inspirational to many different individuals. boredomresearch have run several computational workshops with teachers, curators, directors, artists and children.
Originally from del.icio.us/tag/art by reBlogged by artificialeyes.tv on Aug 13, 2006, 1:03AM
