Gordon Monro

The recent exhibition "Design After Nature" by the Centre for Electronic Media Art at Monash University, Melbourne is re-appearing at the Frankston Arts Centre (Melbourne).

The works are described as "experimental ecosystems", generally computer-based in some way. It is shaping up to be a very interesting exhibition.

People involved: Oliver Bown, Joel Collins, Aland Dorin, Alice Eldridge, Mark Guglielmetti, Indae Hwang, Troy Innocent, Taras Kowaliw, Jon McCormack, Gordon Monro, Yun Tae Nam, Ben Porter, Mitchell Whitelaw.

Time, Transcendence, Performance (Melbourne)

I recently attended the "Time, Transcendence, Performance" conference in Melbourne, organised by Stuart Grant, Jodie McNeilly and Caroline Vains. My piece Cloud Drum was in the associated art show. The conference was a large and complex event spread across three locations; the art exhibition and most of the papers were at the Caulfield campus of Monash University. There are some comments about the event in my blog.

St Patrick's College Art Exhibition (Ballarat)

My piece Exiguous Cubes was recently awarded the University of Ballarat Emerging Artist Prize at the 2009 St Patrick's College Art Exhibition in Ballarat. The judge was Gordon Morrison, Director of the Art Gallery of Ballarat. The main prize, the Flanagan Award, was won by Carole Wilson's collage work Survey Vessel 2.

"Ab Initio" as part of Ballarat Foto Bienniale Fringe

I am having an exhibition entitled "Ab Initio" as part of the Ballarat Foto Bienniale Fringe exhibition program. It is of digital prints related to my installation Cloud Drum, and generated from scratch in my computer. So they are not photographs at all, but they have been accepted for the Fringe.

Exhibition: Friday 4th September to Monday 5th October
Opening: Friday 4th September, 5.30pm.
Location: Radmac Gallery, 104 Armstrong Street (North), Ballarat VIC 3350.
Gallery hours: Mon-Fri 8.30am-5.30pm, Sat 9am-12 noon.

Radmac Gallery (which is also an art supply shop) is venue 26 on the map here. It is a short walk from Ballarat railway station.

The Foto Bienniale, which runs throughout September, promises to be huge, with a Core of over 20 invited exhibitions, a considerably greater number of Fringe exhibitions, and various seminars and artist talks. The exhibitors include overseas and interstate people together with locals. Most events and exhibitions are free; they are mostly in Ballarat, but some are in Daylesford and other towns. Details at http://www.ballaratfoto.org.

"Biotope" at Frankston Arts Centre

Currently Cube 37, the large street display at the Frankston Arts Centre, is showing works from the Centre for Electronic Media Art at Monash University, including my new video Drum Mask.

A lot of the people involved have been out of town, so there will be a "closing" rather than an opening on Thursday 6th August.

Event: Thursday 6th August 6pm.
Frankston Arts Centre (Cube 37)
37 Davey St, Frankston VIC 3199

Schloss Dagstuhl

I'm off to Germany soon for a seminar on "Computational Creativity" at Schloss Dagstuhl in Saarland, Germany. Schloss Dagstuhl is a conference centre set up to hold conferences in computer science, though this particular conference crosses over into the arts and philosophy. The topics up for discussion centre around creative behaviour in artificial systems; the systems may operate autonomously or with guidance or collaboration from a human artist. A particular focus is on systems that are modelled on evolution in nature, and there is already quite a long history of "artificial life art", surveyed in the book "Metacreation" by Mitchell Whitelaw. There is also quite a long history of computer programs that can improvise music in concert with other (human) musicians.

The seminar is shaping up to be pretty exciting, and some well-known people will be there. The web page for the seminar is here.

"Silence Sound" at Frankston Arts Centre

There is a big group exhibition coming up at the Frankston Arts Centre under the name "Silence Sound". My video Triangular Vibrations is included.

Opening: Thursday 30th April 6pm.
Frankston Arts Centre (Cube 37)
37 Davey St, Frankston VIC 3199

Visual Music Marathon reprise

In 2007 Dennis Miller organised a Visual Music Marathon in Boston as part of the Boston Cyberarts Festival. Now the whole Marathon is on again in New York, at the Visual Arts Theatre, 333 West 23rd Street, New York City, on April 11th, 2009, form 10am to 10pm. My piece Dissonant Particles is included, in the first hour. Details of the Marathon are at http://www.2009vmm.neu.edu/.

A censored Internet

The Australian Federal Government is planning to censor the whole Internet. This is an extraordinary step backwards for Australia.

Blog

Design After Nature - again