Artists Statement

Theme: Community Domain, venue: South Hall

Taking the form of a paper based, tick-box survey, (or PDA based software) visitors to a New Media gallery or exhibition complete a simple questionnaire as they enjoy the gallery experience. The questionnaire is based on a visual taxonomy for New Media Art (developed by the artists), which attempts to identify typical configurations for New Media Art pieces including technical set up, media content and user experience. The completed questionnaires are collected by the art establishment as a documentation of the show. Throughout the duration of the show the completed forms may also be displayed in the Untitled Media activity area as an ongoing review to the artworks and an insight to the public perception of the event.

In response to the ongoing debate by mainstream art establishments, contemporary art theorists, practitioners and the art going community, to define what constitutes a New Media Art practice – Untitled Media is an attempt to document and categorize examples of artworks that might or might not fall into the domain of New Media Art. Unlike traditional artworks such as painting or sculptures, New Media Art is often difficult to describe or identify. Untitled Media is a participatory classification system that will attempt to address the mutability of contemporary, digital enhanced New Media artworks.

A location based activity the Untitled Media event can be attached to any New Media arts festival or conference. A small team of Untitled Media artists and volunteers will collect information from visitors to New Media artworks at a gallery or festival location. The collected information is fed into the Untitled Media database; the resulting information is then visualized as dynamic information system and made available for public consideration and feedback.

Visitors complete a simple questionnaire as they enjoy the ISEA exhibitions. The questionnaire is based on a visual taxonomy for New Media Art (developed by the artists), which attempts to identify typical configurations for New Media Art pieces. Throughout the duration of the show the completed forms may also be displayed as an ongoing review of the artworks and an insight to the public perception of the event. This information is also fed into a database, which is dynamically visualized as the survey continues.

• Ian Gwilt (UK/AU)
• Elise Lee (AU)
• Shigeki Amitani (JP/AU)
• Adam Hinshaw (AU)

Support from: Australian Government, Australian Council for the Arts, Australian CRC for Interaction Design and the University of Technology, Sydney