David Rokeby
Encyclopedia
Electronic art
Electronic art is a form of art that makes use of electronic media or, more broadly, refers to technology and/or electronic media. It is related to information art, new media art, video art, digital art, interactive art, internet art, and electronic music...
, video
Video art
Video art is a type of art which relies on moving pictures and comprises video and/or audio data. . Video art came into existence during the 1960s and 1970s, is still widely practiced and has given rise to the widespread use of video installations...
and installation art
Installation art
Installation art describes an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called Land art; however, the boundaries between...
since 1982.
His early work Very Nervous System (1982–1991) is acknowledged as a pioneering work of interactive art, translating physical gestures into real-time interactive sound environments. Very Nervous System was presented at the Venice Biennale
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
in 1986.
Work
Rokeby's pioneering interactive work Very Nervous System has been evolving since 1982. In Wired Magazine the work is described asa combination of technologies, some off-the-shelf, some rare and esoteric, and some cooked up by Rokeby himself. Initially, in 1982, much more of the system was homemade. His circuitry, designed to speed up the response of the sluggish Apple II, was still not fast enough to analyze an image from an ordinary video camera, so he built his own low-res device: a little box with 64 light sensors behind a plastic Fresnel lens. But Very Nervous System has been evolving for 13 years, during which time the world has seen any number of technological revolutions. So Rokeby now has a lot more store-bought components incorporated into the system: it can handle a Mac Quadra and real video cameras, via sophisticated "Max" software from Paris.
A number of Rokeby's works address issues of digital surveillance, including Watch (1995), Guardian Angel (2002) and Sorting Daemon (2003). Other works engage in a critical examination of the differences between human and artificial intelligence. The Giver of Names (1991) and n-cha(n)t (2001) are artificial subjective entities, provoked by objects or spoken words in their immediate environment to formulate sentences and speak them aloud.
David Rokeby's installations have been exhibited extensively in the Americas, Europe and Asia. He has been an invited speaker at events around the world, and has published two papers that are required reading in the new media arts faculties of many universities. In 2002, Rokeby represented Canada at the Venice Biennale of Architecture with Seen (2002). In 2004 he represented Canada at the São Paulo Bienal in Brazil. In 2007 he completed major art commissions for the Ontario Science Centre
Ontario Science Centre
Ontario Science Centre is a science museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, near the Don Valley Parkway about northeast of downtown on Don Mills Road just south of Eglinton Avenue East...
and the Daniel Langlois Foundation
Daniel Langlois Foundation
The Daniel Langlois Foundation is a non-profit, philanthropic organization endowed by Daniel Langlois and chartered in 1997 with the mission to support artistic and scientific projects and research dedicated to further general human awareness as well as the understanding of human relation with its...
in Montréal.
Rokeby's sculptural piece Cloud is one of three permanent art installations at the Ontario Science Centre
Ontario Science Centre
Ontario Science Centre is a science museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, near the Don Valley Parkway about northeast of downtown on Don Mills Road just south of Eglinton Avenue East...
. Cloud consists of an array of blue and transparent squares that rotate in various ways to simulate the three states of matter: solid, liquid and gas.
Awards
For his installation n-cha(n)t, Rokeby was awarded the Prix Ars ElectronicaPrix Ars Electronica
The Prix Ars Electronica is one of the most important yearly prizes in the field of electronic and interactive art, computer animation, digital culture and music...
(Golden Nica for Interactive Art) in 2002. In 2002 he was awarded the Governor General's Award
Governor General's Award
The Governor General's Awards are a collection of awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, marking distinction in a number of academic, artistic and social fields. The first was conceived in 1937 by Lord Tweedsmuir, a prolific author of fiction and non-fiction who created the Governor...
in Visual and Media Arts. Very Nervous System was awarded the first Petro-Canada Award for Media Arts in 1988 and Austria's Prix Ars Electronica Award of Distinction for Interactive Art in 1991. Watched and Measured (2000) was awarded the first BAFTA award for interactive art from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 2000.
Further reading
- Cooper, Douglas. "Very Nervous System: Artist David Rokeby adds new meaning to the term interactive." Wired Issue 3.03 (Mar 1995) http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/3.03/rokeby.html
- Gale, Peggy, Sara Diamond and Su Ditta. David Rokeby. Oakville, Ont.: Oakville Galleries, 2005. ISBN 1894707214
- Leopoldseder, Hannes and Christine Schöpf. Prixars Electronica : 2002 cyberarts : international compendium prix ars electronica : net vision/net excellence, interactive art, computer animation/visual effects, digital musics, cybergeneration : u90-freestyle computing. Ostfildern, Germany: Hatje Cantz, 2002. ISBN 3775712089
External links
- David Rokeby - home page
- Horizon Zero 3 - Invent issue with information about Rokeby's works
- AudioHyperspace - Interview with David Rokeby