Multi-Site exhibition: September 20, 2012–January 6, 2013
Regional programs: September–December 2012
Albuquerque, New Mexico
www.isea2012.org
www.albuquerquemuseum.org
www.516arts.org
Multi-Site Exhibition based at
516 ARTS
516 Central Avenue SW, Albuquerque, NM 87102
T 505 242 1445
The Albuquerque Museum of Art & History
2000 Mountain Road NW, Albuquerque, NM 87104
T 505 243 7255
Satellite venues:
Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquqerque International Balloon Museum
New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science
Richard Levy Gallery
Rainosek Gallery, UNM School of Architecture & Planning
Alvarado Urban Farm
516 ARTS, The Albuquerque Museum of Art & History and partners present the main exhibition for ISEA2012 Albuquerque: Machine Wilderness, on view at seven sites. It is based at both The Albuquerque Museum of Art & History and 516 ARTS, with off-site projects at the following five locations: Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum, the New Mexico Museum of Natural History, the Rainosek Gallery at the UNM School of Architecture & Planning, Richard Levy Gallery and the Alvarado Urban Farm.
The exhibition features work that combines art, science and technology, demonstrating the role art can play in re-envisioning the world. It includes over 100 artists from 16 countries: Austria, Brazil, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Korea, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, the U.K. and the USA. (See attached list of artists). The exhibition was juried and curated through an international call for proposals, which drew close to 1,500 submissions from artists and presenters around the globe.
The ISEA2012 title “Machine Wilderness” references the New Mexico region as an area of rapid growth and technology within vast expanses of open land, and aims to present visions of a more humane interaction between technology and wilderness in which “machines” can take many forms to support life on Earth. Machine Wilderness focuses on creative solutions to the challenge of advancing technology while sustaining the global, natural environment.
Many of the artworks are interactive, and invite the public to participate. Artists include Ivan Puig and Andrés Padillla Domene (Mexico) displaying SEFT-1, a “Manned Railway Exploration Probe” vehicle which travels on abandoned railways to document largely remote areas of the country, creating a futuristic exploration of Mexico’s past. New Mexico artist Agnes Chavez is featured with (x)trees, a socially interactive, virtual forest generated from search words found in tweets and text messages. Navajo artist William Wilson and collaborators present the eyeDazzler project, which combines traditional Navajo weaving and design with QR codes that lead viewers to the project’s website. Fred Paulino, Lucas Mafra and Ganso/Paulo Pessoa of the Gambiologia Project (Brazil) present their Gambiocycle, a mobile broadcast unit that is a tricycle containing electronic gear for interactive video projection and digital graffiti in public space. Other artists include Rubén Ortiz-Torres, Leo Villarael, Nam June Paik, Seoungho Cho (Korea) and many more.
516 ARTS produced the ISEA2012 conference September 19-24, and now the exhibition and season-long series of events continue through the fall. The project explores the discourse of global proportions on the subject of art, technology and nature. The International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA) is the world’s premier forum for advancing exchange and innovation among artists, scientists and technologists. As host for ISEA2012, Albuquerque has joined Istanbul, Helsinki, Munich, Singapore, Sydney and other major cities worldwide as an international center for creativity and technology.
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalog published by the acclaimed Radius Books, which is available at www.516arts.org/store.
For ISEA2012 conference documentation including photographs, keynote lecture videos and follow up programs, please visit www.isea2012.org.
Educational tours & curriculum
Free, educational, exhibition tours are available for schools and community groups. For tours at 516 ARTS, please contact Claude Smith at [email protected]. For tours at The Albuquerque Museum, please contact Elizabeth Becker at [email protected].
Go behind the scenes and glimpse into the creative process of featured artists by exploring the ISEA2012 STEMArts Curriculum Tool at www.stemarts.com/isea2012/curriculum.
