Digital Art Observatory
a first of its kind residency aimed to provide an example and roadmap for cross-border partnerships amongst cultural institutions
Ukrainian platform V-Art and British Electric Artefacts are pleased to announce their collaboration on the launch of the Digital Art Observatory. With the support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation and the British Council, within the framework of the Culture for Change program, twelve artists from all over Ukraine and the UK will take part in the residence in September and October 2021.
"The Digital Observatory is a research residence created in partnership between the V-Art and Electric Artefacts platforms to study collaborations in the digital world. The project will create virtual cross-platform exhibitions using digital technologies, including Web, 3D and AR."
Anastasiia Gliebova
project coordinator from the Ukrainian side
"With the advent of Web 3 and the world redefining the concept of borders, we embark on a historic journey to map the digital art universe that connects United Kingdom's and Ukraine's cultures."
Aleksandra Artamonovskaja
project coordinator from the British side
Residency artists
Multimedia artist and new media creator, Ukraine
Julia works in the field of generative graphics, animation, audiovisual media performances, and augmented reality. Julia has created an art movement called Neometa, or neometamodernism, within which she explores interactions between humans and technologies.
Visual artist and writer, UK
Since 2014, he has produced an ongoing portfolio of abstract digital artworks, some available as limited edition prints and others as NFTs.
Digital artist, UK
Operating under the X-89 alias. Exploring the incongruence of human nature within a digital landscape he seeks to ask questions of what direction humanity is going and how our relationship with emerging tools might shape and define that.
His process is one of deconstructing and reconstructing found media - both traditional and digital. With an aim to comment on the dichotomy of culture, human interaction, technology and media through subversion and juxtaposition in an iconoclastic and anachronistic way.
His process is one of deconstructing and reconstructing found media - both traditional and digital. With an aim to comment on the dichotomy of culture, human interaction, technology and media through subversion and juxtaposition in an iconoclastic and anachronistic way.
New media artist, designer of visual communications, illustrator, Ukraine.
Mainly works with AR, VR technologies, various 3D software, generative design and traditional visual techniques. Its visual style can be described as textured minimalism. The position of a person in space and the place of his existence is one of the central themes of Pavlo's works.
Аrtist PHD, Associate Professor., Ukraine
Works with painting, sculpture and ceramics, art in public space, XR, participatory practices.
Аrtist, UK
In her current practice, she tries to connect the way we consume, perceive and live, with virtual images and some physical phenomena that call into question the ordinary perception of the world. Starting with elements related to electromagnetism and optics, light and vision, she creates works that seem to blur the line between the physical and the virtual and are rooted in problems related to memory, presence and the ontological status of photographic media.
Artist who works with a wide range of media, including virtual reality, digital art and neon, Ukraine.
In her artworks, Belyaeva touches on various socially important topics, such as new technologies and humanism, truth and post-truth, the contradictions of post-totalitarian society. The artist combines simple forms with complex themes, paying special attention to the composition. The purpose of her artistic work is to question these themes in documentary or intimate form using different mediums.
Аrtist, Ukraine, UK
Throughout her life there was constant mobility. As a consequence, metamorphosis, movement and fluidity are the key concepts that form the basis of her current practice. Essentially, her work explores the ideas of modern metaphysics while simultaneously reflecting the intensity and structure of materiality in motion. A hybrid of print graphics and digital media embodies the transmission of these ideas.
James Johnson-Perkins
Аrtist, UK
James Johnson-Perkins is a British award-winning artist whom currently lives and works in the UK and China. In 2021 he won the (Runner up) Alpine Fellowship Prize and is a Finalist for the Mediterranean Contemporary Art Prize. He has also been involved with two digital residencies at: The Belgrave Arts Studio, Serbia and Correlation Contemporary, Peru, and his work will be shown at Ars Electronica with .ART Gallery x VR-Ali-AR, 8th- 23rd September 2021, Linz, Austria.
Media artist, Ukraine
He is mainly working with XR and AI. Managing VR art festivals, developing art communities (XR Art Ukraine and CryptoArt Ukraine), building virtual galleries in the metaverse. Virtual experience Metacouncil was presented at Ars Electronica 2020 (In Kepler's Gardens). Teaching XR art at Karazin University in Kharkiv, managing and participating in audio-visual jam sessions with electronic music and visual art, curating online exhibitions.
As an artist, he is focused on topics of ecological issues, mental health and speculative futures. Passionate about the intersection of arts, social projects, technologies and futurology. More and more he is digging into the production of immersive arts and using game engines, virtual drawing and design tools, DAWs, etc
As an artist, he is focused on topics of ecological issues, mental health and speculative futures. Passionate about the intersection of arts, social projects, technologies and futurology. More and more he is digging into the production of immersive arts and using game engines, virtual drawing and design tools, DAWs, etc
Digital Observatory aims to be a moment of self-reflection regarding how we utilize technology across a digital cultural and creative exchange in a time of ever-increasing migration towards virtual worlds.
The artists, selected in an open competition, were paired for a series of mentoring to develop the final design together.
Oliver Jenkins & Julia Shutkevych
James Johnson-Perkins & Nikita Khudiakov
Isabel Bonafe & Julia Beliaeva
Robert Richardson & Pavlo Bestuzhev
Roxolana Dudka & Krisztina Kapeljuh
James Johnson-Perkins & Nikita Khudiakov
Isabel Bonafe & Julia Beliaeva
Robert Richardson & Pavlo Bestuzhev
Roxolana Dudka & Krisztina Kapeljuh
The sessions are conducted by both Ukrainian and British specialists and cover both theoretical and practical aspects of cooperation. The residency also presented a public speaking program to expand understanding of good legal, technological and curatorial practice through digital art and collaborative projects.
For the final projects, V-Art and Electric Artefacts provided virtual exhibition platforms using digital technologies, including the Internet, 3D and AR.
Don't miss the final exhibition, which will open in mid-November!
Besides, after residency, those interested in digital art сan gain access to a whitepaper that will document the main findings of the residency and serve as a guide for future intercultural cooperation.
Don't miss the final exhibition, which will open in mid-November!
Besides, after residency, those interested in digital art сan gain access to a whitepaper that will document the main findings of the residency and serve as a guide for future intercultural cooperation.
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