boredomresearch
boredomresearch
Fragments (2013)
90cm x 140cm Digital Print on Aluminium. Signed on Reverse
boredomresearch is a collaboration between British artists Vicky Isley and Paul Smith, their work benefits from a long lasting fascination in the mechanics of the biological world which they explore using contemporary technology. Their work transcends boundaries between art, science and society, with previous projects exploring topics including: the intricate biological signatures of neural activity, the frontiers of disease modeling and our cultural obsession with speed.
With two decades of artistic practice, exploring an understanding of the natural world through the medium of computational technologies, boredomresearch have become intimately aware of the sensitivity and vulnerability of complex systems, including those which support human life on earth.
boredomresearch have been working in collaboration with world leading science institutions across Europe creating artworks developed from ground breaking research. Their collaboration with Dr Paddy Brock, a mathematical modeler at the Institute of Biodiversity Animal Health and Comparative Medicine at the University of Glasgow, led towards the creation of AfterGlow. This new representation of malaria infection transmission addressed the limitations of existing models and was awarded, in September 2016, the Lumen Prize moving image award.
Their seminal work Real Snail Mail (the world's first webmail service to use real snails) challenged our cultural obsession with speed, highlighting perverse socio-economic distortions, centered on ideas of productivity, which exploit technological innovation to enslave humankind in a work life imbalance that continues to deteriorate despite the introduction of numerous 'time saving' technologies. Receiving worldwide attention, including: BBC, TIME Magazine, New Scientist and Discovery Channel Canada, this and other works by boredomresearch, open channels for meaningful dialogue and engagement between public and scientific domains.
The artworks of boredomresearch are in collections around the world including the British Council and Borusan Contemporary Art Collection, Istanbul. Recent international exhibitions include: ISEA, Manizales (2017); Future Emerging Art & Technology (FEAT) Exhibition, BOZAR Brussels (2017); Data Aesthetic Exhibition, Amsterdam (2016); Bio-Art, Seoul (2015); TRANSITIO MX_06 Electronic Arts & Video Festival, Mexico City (2015); Soft Control: Art, Science and the Technological Unconscious, Slovenia (2012) and Gateways, House of Electronic Arts, Basel (2012).
