Art Gallery

Adaptation
We live in a world of unprecedented complexity, where humanity, nature, and technology must adapt to rapidly changing conditions. Digital technology can provide new answers to these challenges, but it can also pose new problems. We are living with an explosion of data and connectivity, where every person has access to many orders of magnitude more information than our parents.

Our technology has become so powerful we can now control the genetic makeup of living organisms and cause holes in the ozone layer. Yet some of the most impressive breakthroughs in art and technology happen by transforming the gaps in the existing landscape into opportunities - by adapting what we know to what might be. Now, as the world evolves with exponential speed, we need artists and scientists to show us the infinite possibilities of adaptation.

How do human beings and other species change to fit new circumstance and conditions in an ever-changing world? How does a species develop physically and behaviorally in order to survive and reproduce? How is technology used to achieve adaptation, or how does it destroy one's ability to adapt? Has technology really helped us adapt? At this critical time in humanity's evolutionary journey, we are looking for artworks that speak to some of these questions, artworks that resonate strongly with our challenging existence in an ever-changing world of technological advances, environmental crisis, and global shifts of consciousness.

The SIGGRAPH Asia 2009 Art Gallery will feature a diverse, international body of art and design, ranging from pieces driven by technology to works that critically comment on our technological society. The works will be selected based on four criteria: the depth of the concept of the work, aesthetics, craftsmanship, and relevance to the theme of the show.

Media include, but are not limited, to the following categories:

  • 2D and 3D artwork, such as digital prints, paintings, and sculpture
  • Art installations and environments
  • Interactive work: installations, web-based art, responsive media, robotics, touch-screens, wearable art
  • Time-based work (video/animation): for monitors, installations, or projections
  • Artwork using digital communities: including alternative networks, mobile, and locative media
  • Performance: electronically mediated performances, interactive performances, and digital art happenings
  • Artwork using digital audio
  • Works of design

The Art Gallery will consist of a curated body of work and a juried body of work. The jury will be made up of artists and professionals working in the field of fine art, new media, and computer graphics. We encourage submissions from throughout the world and from artists of all nationalities. Visual artists new to SIGGRAPH who have relevant artworks are especially encouraged to submit their work.

Once accepted, artists will work closely with the SIGGRAPH Asia Art Gallery Committee to ship and display the work in Yokohama. An installation crew will support the technical and physical aspects of the installation. Performances will be scheduled in advance, and advertised on the SIGGRAPH Asia 2009 web site and printed materials. Artists who are able to attend the conference in Japan will be encouraged to give an artist talk and participate in artist panel discussions.

Accepted artworks will be exhibited in Pacifico Yokohama during the conference in December 2009. Accompanying the exhibition will be an extensive catalog, Digital Experiences, an online exhibit, an online archive, and a promotional video on DVD to document and archive the artwork. Press tours and other media outreach will be organized to further increase awareness of the Art Gallery.

The submission deadline was 5 June 2009. The jury's decisions will be announced in August 2009.

The complete list of accepted artists and works will be available at Art Gallery: Adaptation in September

Yuko Oda
Art Gallery Chair
New York Institute of Technology