[ISEA2008] Curators Statement: National Museum of Singapore — ISEA2008 Artists in Residence Exhibiton

Curators Statement

Venue: National Museum of Singapore

Alongside the conference, a crucial component of the symposium is an exhibition that premieres 16 artworks that have been developed specifically for ISEA2008 by international and local artists during their time as artists in residence in Singapore. These projects were selected by the ISEA2008 committee after an open call for submissions in 2007. New media artists were required to submit proposals that took their inspiration from the conferences five themes: Locating Media, Reality Jam, Wiki Wiki, Ludic Interfaces, and Border Transmissions (see symposium theme).
The artists whose projects were selected have had the opportunity to work intensely for three months as artists in residence in a number of new media and technology labs based at the National University Of Singapore. They have created the artworks within the lab environment, gaining access to advanced technologies and the expertise of researchers. This confluence between art, research, science and technology has opened up many possibilities for further exploration in both of these fields.
The resulting exhibition is an exciting glimpse into the questions and concerns of new media artists in 2008. Eclectic, restless and always surprising, the artworks in AIR take on a wide range of subjects from the refiguring of surveillance; body language and communication; mapping electromagnetic fields; the flow of water and information on the internet; they address civic spaces and the natural environment, along with the immersive qualities of sounds and smells, and much more.

List of Projects

  1. Appropriate Response: Arts & Creativity Lab
  2. Aurora Consurgens: Mixed Reality Lab
  3. Civilisation V: G3 Lab
  4. DIY GORI: seed_1216976400: Laboratory of Control and Mechatronics
  5. Does it make scents to have fun?: Mixed Reality Lab
  6. Exodus: Lab for Media Search
  7. Finally, We Hear One Another: Mixed Reality Lab
  8. Gendered Strategies for Loitering: University Scholars Programme Cyberart Studio
  9. Quartet: Personal 3D Entertainment Systems Project at A-STAR Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R)
  10. Run Silent; Run Deep: Marine Mammal Research Laboratory
  11. Smile :-), Wear It Like a Costume!: NUS Face Group
  12. So Close the Desert Isle: Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing & Processing (CRISP)
  13. Sourcing Water: Singapore-Delft Water Alliance (SDWA)
  14. The Water Book: Singapore-Delft Water Alliance (SDWA)
  15. SYNTBOUTIQUE: NUS Environmental Research Institute (NERI)
  16. The Global Bridge Symphony: Ambient Intelligence Lab and Communications Laboratory
  17. The Water Book (An Encyclopedia of Water)