Speaker Biographies

Computer Art & Cybernetics

Stroud Cornock studied at Kingston and the RCA, establishing sculpture studios in London and beginning to exhibit first sculptures and prints (from 1962), and interactive art systems (1968-72), leading the team that presented the Interplay project at the VI Paris Biennale. Began teaching with Ascott in Ipswich in 1965 where he proposed that a 'Media Handling Area' should stand alongside Painting and Sculpture to support higher education in fine art practice using media tools; this was implemented at Leicester from 1968, including an early computer drawing package. Published, broadcast and made conference contributions on the creative uses of computers, and mounted symposia and exhibitions. While engaged in systems research at Lancaster University from 1974 he made conference contributions on interactive art systems in Europe and the USA. In the 1980s he moved from leading a degree programme to an increasing involvement in accreditation, joining and then leading first the CNAA art and design registry and later an OU awarding body; for many years he also served as curator of the CNAA and OU art collections. More recently he has been a Reporting Inspector for the British Accreditation Council. An early member of the Computer Arts Society and contributor to computer graphics conferences.

Darko Fritz is an artist and independent curator and researcher. He has curated numerous exhibitions and edited companion exhibition catalogues for print and web publication, including I am Still Alive (early computer-generated art and recent low-tech and internet art), Zagreb, 2000; CLUB.NL - contemporary art and art networks from the Netherlands, Dubrovnik, 2000; Lights from Zagreb - interactive light installations, 2001; <dis.location>, Zagreb, 2003; Variable Amnesia, Utrecht, 2006; Bit International - Computers and Visual Research, [New] Tendencies, Zagreb 1961—1973, Neue Galerie, Graz, 2007 and ZKM, Karlsruhe, 2008 and Reconstruction: private=public=private=public=, Belgrade, 2009. He has presented research on early digital art at various conferences, including ISEA 2000, Paris, 2000 and 2004, Helsinki; End Repeat ,Tallin, 2001; Stuttgart 1960, Computer in Theorie und Kunst, Stuttgart, 2004; REFRESH!, Banff, 2005; RE:PLACE, Berlin, 2007; Programmation orienntee art 2, Paris Sorbonne, 2007 and Second Bremen Symposium on Early Digital Art, Bremen, 2008. As editor for media art at net portal Culturenet (since 2002), he edited related database and published "A Brief Overview of Media Art in Croatia (Since the 1960s)" in 2002. He published numerous articles on early computer-generated art, among others “Amnesia International - Early computer art and [New] Tendencies movement” at I am Still Alive, Mi2, Zagreb, 2000, Zagreb and Bitomatik, kuda.org, Novi Sad, 2004 and “Vladimir Bona?i?”, Leonardo magazine, MITpress, 2008. Fritz direced documentary film Hong Kong Contemporary and Media Art, 2001. He is founder and programmer of the grey) (area – space of contemporary and media art since 2006.

George Mallen

Helen Plumb is an emerging digital artist that specialises in interactivity. She approaches her work with an eye to producing art that is impermanent, influenced by the Japanese concept of Wabi Sabi and the art of imperfection. Drawing on the philosophy of wonder, Helen seeks to create art that is thought provoking and appeals to our curiosity. Originally from Birmingham, she moved to Brighton in 2002. Helen graduated in 2009 from the University of Brighton with an MA in Digital Media Arts and continues to explore the capabilities that digital technologies have to offer. As part of the ‘State of Nature’ exhibition 2007, Helen displayed giant projections of seeds that grow into plants only when the viewer is in close proximity, whilst displaying a film of her work entitled ‘Lunchbox animation’, a flipbook drawn by members of the public in a multiple stream of consciousness to create an organic flow of imaginative drawings. Helen’s current focus follows on from an installation she originally created for a show at the University of Brighton in May 2009 entitled ‘Thinking Machines’. The piece adopts a plant-like form that responds to being watered by light illumination and sound. It is currently being transformed using the advanced design methods of rapid prototyping, pushing the possibilities of digital art beyond the screen.

Computer Art & Time

Janis Jefferies

Nick Lambert

Frieder Nake

Richard Wright

Computer Art & Space

Robin Baker

Bonnie Mitchell is a visual artist that focuses on creating art environments that explore the concept of virtual presence and unencumbered immersion. Her artworks investigate spatial and experiential relationships to our physical, social, cultural and psychological environment through the use of time and interaction. She integrates computer programming, 3D modeling, digital particle systems, imaging and sculpting the physical environment to create experiences that immersive the viewer in unique audio/visual experiences. Her artworks have been exhibited internationally at SIGGRAPH, SEAMUS, ICMA, ISEA, Prix Ars Electronica, Digital Salon, ArCADE, Gamut, and many other venues. In 2006, Ms Mitchell chaired the SIGGRAPH Art Gallery - Intersections, the Electronically Mediated Performances and the retrospective exhibition, Beyond Boundaries: Charles Csuri from 1963 to present. She also chaired the GRAPHITE 2006 Art and Animation Exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; GRAPHITE 2007 Digital Art exhibition in Perth, Australia; and the New York State Media Festival in 1995. Mitchell presents her research internationally and has been keynote speaker, panel chair, and speaker at numerous conferences and symposia. Bonnie Mitchell currently is an Associate Professor of Digital Arts in the School of Art at Bowling Green State University, USA. She teaches digital and experimental animation, and interactive media.

Michael O'Rourke is an artist and a Professor at Pratt Institute in New York City. His digitally generated artwork has been exhibited and screened worldwide since 1983. Venues include the Kennedy Center for the Arts (Wash. D.C), the Musee d'Art Moderne (Paris), the Isetan Museum (Tokyo), Laumont Editions (NY, NY), the Hong Gah Museum (Taipei), and many others. His artwork has ranged from sculpture to prints, animation, and murals. His first work with digital sculpture dates from 1979, when he produced a series of real-time interactive virtual sculptures. He has also used the computer to design and fabricate physical sculptures, including his recent sculpture installations combining three-dimensional forms, two-dimensional imagery, and interactively controlled projections.His early professional experience was at the world-famous New York Institute of Technology Computer Graphics Laboratory in the 1980's, where he worked with many of the pioneers and inventors of computer imaging and animation. Between 1985 and 1992, he did several series of work for the artist Frank Stella, producing sculptural models, graphics, and animation. He is the author of two books and numerous articles about digital art. He holds an M.F.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, and an Ed.M. degree in Education from Harvard University.

Computer Art & Output

Paul Coldwell is an artist and Professor of Fine Art at the University of the Arts London. He has recently led a two year AHRC (Arts & Humanities Research Council) funded research project The Personalised Surface within Fine Art Digital Printmaking that considered the surface of the digital print in the context of earlier technologies. His own practice includes prints, book works, sculptures and installations, with regular solo exhibitions at the Eagle Gallery, London. His work is included in numerous public collections, including Tate, V&A, Fitzwilliam Museum, the British Museum and the Arts Council of England, has been selected for the Ljubljana Print Biennial in 2005 & 1997, the International Print Triennial, Cracow (2000, 2003, 2006 and 2009), Prints Now, V&A, 2006 and the Northern Print Biennial 2009. His most recent solo exhibition I called while you were out was at Kettle’s Yard Cambridge (2008-09). He has curated a number of exhibitions including Computers & Printmaking, Birmingham Museum & Art Galleries 1999, Digital Responses, V&A 2002-03 and most recently, Morandi’s Legacy; Influences on British Art at the Estorick Collection London and Abbot Hall, Cumbria 2006. His book, Printmaking: A Contemporary Perspective will be published by Black Dog Publisher in Feb. 2010.

Jeremy Gardiner is Senior Research Fellow on the AHRC funded project Computer Art and Technocultures at Birkbeck College and the V&A. A graduate of the Royal College of Art and former Harkness Fellow at the Media Lab of MIT, in 1987 he received a New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship and in 1988 an honorary mention for his work from Priz Ars Electronica. In 2002 Gardiner was awarded a NESTA grant and in 2003 won the Peterborough Art prize for ‘Purbeck Light Years’. A founding member of the Computer Graphics department at Pratt Institute and Director of CyberArts at Miami’s New World School of the Arts, Gardiner taught Computers in Printmaking at the RCA and was Programme Leader for MA Computer Art at LCMM. Gardiner has been a consultant for the National Trust, the Clore Duffield Foundation and the British Council. His artwork has been commissioned by General Electric, IBM and NYNEX and is held in numerous private and public collections including BNP Paribas, Glaxo Smith Kline, Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi, Government Art Collection, Imperial College and the V&A. Recent exhibitions include ‘Imaginalis’ at the Chelsea Art Museum in NY, ‘The Coast Revisited’ at Paisnel Gallery, London. and ‘www.lightyearprojects.org’.

Isaac Kerlow

Computer Art & Technocultures

Maria Chatzichristodoulou (aka Maria X) is Lecturer in Theatre and Performance at the School of Arts and New Media, University of Hull at Scarborough. Maria is a cultural practitioner (curator, producer, performer) and theorist, currently at the final stages of her PhD on Cybertheaters (Goldsmiths, University of London). She is co-founder of the 1st Hellenic Arts and Technology Festival (1998), later renamed as Medi@terra, and was Co-director of the festival and Fournos Centre for Digital Culture (Athens, Greece) from 1999-2002. She has worked as Visiting Lecturer at Richmond International American University in London and at the University of London Colleges Goldsmiths, Queen Mary and Birkbeck (2004-2009). Maria has also worked as a Community Participation Officer at The Albany (London, 2003-2005), was the initiator and Co-director of the 3-day event Intimacy: Across Digital and Visceral Performance (London, December 2007) and is co-editor of the volume Interfaces of Performance (London: Ashgate, 2009). Maria has taken part in numerous national and international cultural collaborations in Greece, the UK and elsewhere, has published chapters in edited collections and journal articles and has widely presented her research in conferences (including CHArt, ISEA, DRHA, DIMEA, PARIP among others).

David Garcia was previously Professor of Design for Digital Cultures, research program based at Hoogschool voor de Kunst Utrecht & University of Portsmouth. In 1983 he co-founded Time Based Arts, which went on to become one of the premier venues for international media arts in the Netherlands. From this basis he went on to develop a series of high profile international media arts events the most significant being The Next 5 Minutes (94-2003) a series of international conferences and exhibitions on electronic communications and political culture. Recently (since 2006 as part of the Digital Cultures program) he initiated (Un)common Ground a research program consisting of structured expert meetings and publications, investigating the new role of art and design as a catalyst for collaboration across sectors and disciplines. 1n 2007 he edited and contributed to the Book (Un)common Ground, Creative Encounters Across Sectors and Disciplines, which was launched in Spring 2007 at the Enter Festival, Cambridge. In 2008 co-founded the Tactical Media Files on-line archive and resource connecting new forms of social production based on networks to the rise of new social movements.

Sue Gollifer is a Principal Lecturer in Fine Art, in the School of Arts and Media at the University of Brighton, the Course Leader for the MA in Digital Media Arts (DMA), and the Director of the ISEA International Headquarters. She is an early pioneer as computer artists and her primary research is on 'the impact of new technology within the practice of Fine Art’ and she has presented a number of evaluative and analytical papers on this subject at major international conferences. Sue is on a number of National and International Committees, including a Director of (DACS), The Design and Artists Copyright Society, (CAS) the Computer Arts Society, the (CAA) College Arts Association, USA, and is currently Vice President for Annual Conference. She has been a professional artist/printmaker for over 30 years, exhibiting her work regularly throughout the world and her work is held in national and international public collections. She has been a curator of a number of International Digital Art Exhibitions including, ArCade, the UK Open International Biennale Exhibition, of Digital Fine Art Prints 1995 – 2007 and the SIGGRAPH Art Gallery Chair ’04: Synaesthesia.

Bruce Wands has been working in digital media and music for over thirty years as an artist, musician, writer, and curator. His book, Art of the Digital Age, was published by Thames & Hudson in 2006. He has lectured, performed, and exhibited his creative work throughout the United States and abroad, including Europe and Asia. Recent events include the 1st China International Conference on Interaction Design, 4th International Conference on the Arts in Society, Electronics Alive V, 2007 Computer Graphics Invitational, CHArt 2006, SIGGRAPH 2006, ACM Creativity & Cognition Conference and Exhibition, and the 1st Beijing International New Media Arts Exhibition. Time Out New York named Bruce as one of the “99 People to Watch in 1999”. He is the Chair of the MFA Computer Art Department and the Director of Computer Education at the School of Visual Arts in New York. U.S. News and World Report ranked his department 5th in Multimedia/Visual Communications in 2007 and his students have won six Student Academy Awards. He is the Director of the New York Digital Salon, which celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2008 (www.nydigitalsalon.org). He is the author of Digital Creativity, published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. in 2001. www.brucewands.com