Machines & Souls. Digital Art and New Media

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The exhibition Machines & Souls. Digital Art and New Media on display at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, explores the convergence of art, science and technology.

 

The idea is to further investigate the fact that, in the early 21st century, art and science flow along parallel channels through the work of a group of artists chosen for their ability to combine art, technology, creativity, mystery, emotion and beauty.

 

SACHIKO KODAMA

 


SACHIKO KODAMA
Protrude Flow, 2008
© All rights reserved
Courtesy Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía

 

Although the exhibition hosted by the Museo Reina Sofía is not historical, linear and all encompassing, it does reflect the history of the transformations that underlie the practices of the participating artists.

The names present in the exhibition stand at a very specific crossroad. José Luis de Vicente, one of the exhibition curators, explains, “In some way, they represent the second generation that has defined the limits of the medium’s discourse, those who have pushed it beyond its speculative beginnings and consolidated the bases of its strategies and languages.

The exhibition includes the work of 17 artists, who were selected for their ability to combine art and science, creativity, emotion and mystery. They have multiple characteristics in common and very different career histories. They share a long career, the fact that they are highly respected in their fields and a creative maturity found in those who have developed their work over time. They differ from each other in age, educational background, the materials they use and the working methods they employ, but they all use digital technology as a tool. They use it in a variety of ways – as a supporting structure, as a developing element, as a research tool or as a springboard to new sensibilities. Although, as the other exhibition curator Montxo Algora reflects, “on their own, their computers do not create. And without the emotion and creativity of its authors, digital art is nothing.”

 

THEO JANSEN

 


THEO JANSEN
Strandbeest, 2007
© All rights reserved
Courtesy Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía

DANIEL ROZIN

 


DANIEL ROZIN
Weave Mirror, 2007
© All rights reserved
Courtesy Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía

JOHN MAEDA

 


JOHN MAEDA
Nature, 2005
© All rights reserved
Courtesy Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía

 

Visitors will be able to view a wide variety of pieces, from the interactive portraits of Rozin to the anthropomorphic robots of McMurtrie, the video-installation of Farocki, Friedlander’s light sculptures, the installation/denouncement of Muntadas, Sachiko Kodama’s ferrofluids, Abad’s project that gives marginalised groups a web presence, John Maeda’s software art, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s interactive installation, Evru’s digital paintings, Daniel Canogar’s installations, Theo Jansen’s “beach beasts”, or the unclassifiable art of David Byrne, Ben Rubin, Vuk Cosic, Pierre Huyghe and Natalie Jeremijenko.

The tremendous diversity of their works is very representative of digital art, a field still in its infancy and with all the characteristics of a newborn: doubtful, expectant, compulsive and with enormous potential.

______________________

Machines & Souls. Digital Art and New Media
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid
Exhibition > 13 October 2008

 

© Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía
Images © All rights reserved

 

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Post in association with Art Blog Espaces Arts & Objets by Artdealers Stampfli & Turci, members of Roubinetwork

 

 

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