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30 January 2008 by nathaniel

Simulate Editions at Ten Cubed Gallery, Second Life

Simulate Editions
unique and authenticated virtual art objects

Premiering at:
Crossing the Void II
Ten Cubed Gallery, Second Life
opening receptions 31 January 7pm EST (1pm SLT) and 1 February 7pm GMT (8am SLT)
SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/depo%20park%201/200/55/22

Simulate Editions

Artists Scott Kildall and Nathaniel Stern have each been exploring performance and performativity in their archival prints. Kildall restages then remediates iconic performance artworks in Second Life, and Stern straps on a scanner appendage and battery pack, and performs images into existence; both processes produce art objects in the real world.

For Crossing the Void II at Ten Cubed Gallery – Haydn Shaughnessy’s new virtual space designed by New York architect Benn Dunkley – they were asked to produce unique virtual art works for sale in Second Life, which mirror their real life prints. In response, they created a series of “Simulate Editions”, where every ‘print’ is individually signed and numbered by hand, making each work ‘technically unique.’ The works are copy and modification protected, but also come with a resize script, so that the new collector/owner – and only them – can grow or shrink their purchase so as to fit into their SL space.

In addition to Kildall and Stern, also on the exhibition are Chris Ashley, Jon Coffelt and Claire Keating.

Simulate Editions

Archives

21 January 2008 by nathaniel

ten cubed

ten-cubed.jpg

I’m involved, via Haydn Shaugnessy (my Irish gallery) in a funky new project, where he’s hired a ‘Real World’ architect to build an astonishingly beautiful gallery out at sea in Second Life: Ten Cubed (pictured). Via some of Haydn’s blogging on the subject:

About a year ago I decided to set up a real life gallery. The reason was simply that I love media art but couldn’t find galleries that specialise in it. Now I have a media-art gallery and on a day-to-day basis experience the fact that the audience for this is global rather than local. Media-art is beginning to find an audience in Ireland but its real audience is urban anywhere.

I can connect to some of that audience through a website . But what I can’t do through a website is join people in appreciating the art; not when they could be anywhere from New York to Naples. Nor could many of the audience really appreciate the artwork: they’d simply be viewing a 2D image.

With Ten Cubed I can do these things. I can stand with you and admire the work and together we can analyse and crit.

What I can also do is make room to showcase art that my physical gallery could not exhibit – because of its size and because of the sheer impracticality of giving over all my space to one large work. In Ten Cubed I can show any amount of art and at any scale. I can also help promote and encourage artists working in a virtual medium.

I have to say that Ten Cubed really is a visceral space – “walking” around and viewing my work, it’s the most free and embodied I’ve ever felt in a Virtual World. And one of the more exciting aspects of the exhibition – which I’ll blog about later in the week – is a project I’m working on with Scott Kildall, where we are making unique SL print editions: virtual, limited edition art, signed and numbered individually and by hand!

More on Haydn’s SL artists.

Archives

18 January 2008 by nathaniel

Ralph Borland at Wits (Johannesburg)

If in Joburg, go see a great speaker and artist (and my classmate from ITP, peer in South Africa, and colleague in Dublin), Ralph Borland, next Friday.

Ralph Borland
Photographs by Pieter Hugo
Suited for Subversion, 2002
Nylon-reinforced PVC, denim, padding, speaker, pulse-reader, circuitry
Edition of 3

We are very pleased to kick off the 2008 Digital Soiree series with a
presentation by Ralph Borland entitled “Provocative Technology”.

The Soiree will take place from 13:15 – 14:00 on Friday 25 January in the
Digital Convent Seminar Room, WSOA, Wits University.

Ralph is an South African artist, technologist and DJ who is at the end of
the first year of his PhD with the Disruptive Design Team in the Electronic
and Electrical Engineering Department, Trinity College, Dublin.

He is examining an area of critical technology design practice
undertaken mainly by artists and designers, and proposing its
application to appropriate technology design.

His presentation will be around 30 minutes long, after which he will be
asking for feedback, and hoping for leads to more projects and
histories. He writes: “I’d like to know how the work I’m engaged with may
resonate with practitioners from a variety of fields. Feel free to invite
anyone who may be interested.”

Archives

14 December 2007 by nathaniel

Spier Contemporary

spier contemporary

South Africa’s new premiere, biennial, contemporary exhibition and competition opened last night in the Cape. Sounds like an amazing exhibition, with lots of young, new names whose careers will hopefully be launched through their wins. Sorry to miss it, but I’m sure there’ll be lots of coverage in the coming months. I feel like it should be noted that Tegan Bristow’s piece, was not just a video, but also interactive – she’s a former student of mine and currently teaches in the Digital Arts department at the University of the Witwatersrand.

From here:

And the winners are:

• Abrie Fourie for his photographic works: Beverley Hills, Sunnyside, Pretoria 2007 and Changing Room, Hillcrest Swimming Pool, Pretoria 2007;

• Chuma Sopotela, Mwenya Kabwe and Kemang Wa Lehulere for their performance U nyamo alunampumlo (The foot has no nose), a work that explores African urban centres, through a hybrid of theatrical forms including live-feed video projection, living installations and live performance work;

•Bettina Malcomess, Rene Holleman and Linda Stupart for their performance Doing it for Daddy, a walking tour of the Spier Estate which reimages real and fictional histories;

• Nina Barnett and Robyn Nesbitt for their video Warcry, a challenging and thrilling look at the war cries of two Johannesburg schools;

• Andrew Putter for Secretly I will love you more, a haunting video installation based on three paintings in the Castle of Good Hope in which the portrait of Maria van Riebeek sings a Khoi Khoi lovesong-lullaby, celebrating her love for Krotoa, her adopted Khoi Khoi daughter; and

• Peter van Heerden for his performance Die Uitlander, the African and the Vrouw, which looks at the patriotism, dedication and resolve of African women.

Receiving special mention were: Tegan Bristow for her video Chalk Vision; Bongani Joseph Khoza for his video On Trains with Bongani; and Kai Losgott and Anthea Moys for their video Unsaid.

There is one more award still to be made. This is the People’s Choice Award.Anyone visiting the exhibition can vote for their favorite artwork. On 20 February 2008 when the exhibition will close on the Spier Estate, the final winner will be announced. The seven award winners will share the prize money of R700,000. All the prizes will be some type of self study, residency programme or another which promotes or progresses the artist’s career.

Archives

09 December 2007 by nathaniel

dvblog feature

somehow missed this feature a few days ago:

 

Sentimental Construction
Sentimental Construction (2007, 25.4MB, 6:31 min)

Nathaniel Stern took a bit of a hammering in various quarters for this piece,
made on a residency in Croatia.
I think there’s an probably an element of you-had-to-be-there about this
although, that said, I think the video is rather magical &
does as good a job of summoning the kind of ephemeral spell this stuff can weave
as any I’ve seen.
Lastly it has to be said the reason Nathaniel is great is because
(1) he has a frightening amount of energy, more indeed, really, than his fair share –
he starts 5 ‘isms’ before breakfast
(2) he is bold, unafraid to risk looking ridiculous & therefore quite often as an artist
he goes to much more interesting places than most…
In general I’ll take a Nathaniel “failure” over quite a lot of folks’ “success”.

Thanks, Michael. Tom Moody came to this piece’s defense a day or two after Paddy’s pan (above), as well. This video has actually since been updated/edited (only had one day to do it in situ in Croatia), available here. Follow-up piece (passage) is here. Not sure what’s next, but it’s growing and changing as I ride it out, or fuck it and go in the opposite direction…

Archives

08 December 2007 by nathaniel

two shows i’m in on South Africa

Just found out that Art on Paper Gallery, who I often work with in Johannesburg, has been workin it for me a bit.

Opened 18 November, Prints / Books / Lights at the KZNSA Gallery in Durban – I think this may actually be the first time I’ve shown there. I’ve got work from Call and Response. Culled from a few sources:

In keeping with the spirit of things, the KZNSA encourages festive shoppers to its premises with the promise of gifts that escalate in value. Adorning its walls and floors and outlandishly crafted shelving systems is an exhibition of truly gorgeous editioned artist prints, complemented by a careful selection of art books, all illuminated with highly dramatic lights by designer darling Adriaan Hugo.

Editioned artists’ prints by Bruce Backhouse, Chris Diedericks, Claudette Schreuders, Colbert Mashile, Conrad Botes, Ditiro Makwena, Dorothee Kreutzveld, Dumisani Mabaso, Erika Hibbert, Espoir Kennedy, Fiona Pole, Joachim Schonfeldt, John Moore, Judith Mason, Kathryn Smith, Kim Berman, Kim Lieberman, Luan Nel, Mary Wafer, Nathaniel Stern, Pat Mautloa, Penny Siopis, Peter Machen, Robert Hodgins, Sam Nhlenegthwa, Thami Jali, Theresa-Anne Mackintosh, Trasi Henen, William Kentridge and Zak Benjamin will be for sale, along with contemporary reading lights for the home, puzzles by Kim Lieberman, books on art, architecture and design, along with archival notebooks and diaries.

Til 6 January. Also (opened today!) is Art on Paper’s (Johannesburg) annual holiday exhibition, where I’m showing new work (from my residency in Belgium) with Zak Benjamin, Robert Hodgins, Kim Lieberman, Dumisani Mubaso, Paul Molete, Luan Nel and Fiona Pole, through the new year:

december invite for Art on Paper Gallery, Johannesburg

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