WORLD-RENOWNED DIGITAL ART EXHIBITION COMES HOME TO THEATR BRYCHEINIOG!
From Beijing to Brecon, Lumen brings digitally-created art to new audiences.
Theatr Brycheiniog is excited to announce that The Lumen Prize for Digital Art, founded in Llangasty near Llangorse lake, is bringing an innovative and immersive digital exhibition to The Andrew Lamont Gallery on the second floor of the theatre, following 5 worldwide tours.
The Lumen Prize for Digital Art, founded by Llangasty resident Carla Rapoport, exists to celebrate the very best art created with technology and has curated 40 exhibitions in 13 countries. ‘Microworld Brecon’ will feature the work of ‘Genetic Moo’, a collaboration between artists Nicola Schauerman and Tim Pickup, who won the 2013 Lumen Founder’s Award. They are based in Margate but work all over the UK and abroad with digital arts organisations, and are members of the arts collective The London Group. Tim and Nicola describe their work as “living installations in pixels and light”. Over the half-term week the Genetic Moo team are hosting coding workshops for children and adults – with the digital creations generated through these free workshops added to the ‘Microworld’ show.
Carla Rapoport, director of the Lumen Prize, said: "The Lumen Prize celebrates the very best digital art created by artists around the world through an annual juried competition. Our goal is to increase the understanding and enjoyment of digital art in all its forms by exhibiting the finalists and winners of this competition globally. We’ve had shows in Cardiff City Hall, ArcadeCardiff and Caerphilly Castle but this is our first show in our home town of Brecon.”
“Our last show was in Beijing at the Today Art Museum following a show in St Petersburg, where I had the honour of speaking at The Hermitage. I’m pleased to say that our Jury Panel now includes a member from the Tate, the V&A Museum and Museum of London so it’s fair to say that, at long last, digital art is now finding a home in the contemporary art scene."
Punch Maughan, visual arts coordinator at Threatr Brycheiniog, has said what a privilege it is to be offered the opportunity to host such a creative and inspiring exhibition: “The exhibition will enable us to reach out to a whole new group of people, particularly younger people and families who might not normally come to an art gallery."
Artists have been working with computers since the earliest days of computing. The first use of the term ‘digital art’ was in the early 1980s, when computer engineers devised a paint program used by the pioneering digital artist Harold Cohen. This became known as AARON, a robotic machine designed to make large drawings on sheets of paper placed on the floor. By the end of the 1990s, digital art had become an established term, with museums and galleries collecting and exhibiting digital artwork.
Digital art can be created using any digital device, such as a computer, tablet or smartphone. Artists use apps or software they can purchase or download for free to make their work or, in some cases, they design their own software or algorithms to generate art.
Digital art can take many forms – it can be a website, a projection, images on screens, made to be shown on VR headsets or brought to life with the viewers’ interactions through the use of the technology used in gaming. Interactive digital art allows the audience a certain amount of control over the artwork, and this is the focus of the Microworld exhibition.
