Polis group show: "Digital Bodies | Digital Worlds"

Latest:

Version 1 of the Digital Bodies | Digital Worlds project will be online as from the 21st December 2005. In the meantime, please see digital bodies for more information.

Description:

The Polis group was formed in 2001 by Amon Twyman, Adrian Giddings, Darryl Banks, Vaughan Williams, and Charles Horn. Polis is an art group which explores themes related to virtual and postmodern urban environments and their inhabitants, such as digital arts and transhumanism. Polis is both the group of contributors, and the sum of the groups' work.

A central theme in the groups' work is the development of virtual environments using the VRML97 language. See the links on the left for the Polis member sites, access to the free plug-in that you will need to view VRML environments with your browser, and some examples of such work.

The Polis group is planning a virtual art show, which will be put online and distributed in locations around the world on business card sized CDr. The theme and title of the show is "Digital Bodies | Digital Worlds". The intention is to explicitly investigate the aesthetics of radical posthuman scenarios which are implied by many themes of transhumanist discussion.

For example, "uploaded" humans and artificial intelligences would be able to shape their (virtual) bodies and worlds at will… what possibilities exist beyond the tired imaginings of Hollywood science fiction? Might virtual environments be used to augment human cognitive performance, thereby acting as a stepping stone to a posthuman future?

Such an art show would not only allow an artistic investigation of questions that are all too often left solely to science (or science fiction), but also provide exposure to transhumanist memes for people in the art world who may not pay attention to developments in the scientific arena.

The show will consist of a series of modular "white cube" rooms, each containing a virtual work by a single artist. What constitutes a single work of art will be primarily discerned in terms of thematic consistency (therefore contributions may be composed of multiple elements or media, as long as those elements are seen to constitute a single statement on the show's theme).

The show will be developed in three phases. Completion of each phase will follow a strict schedule, and after the third deadline, the show will be distributed. The first phase involves completion of the first "ring" of rooms contributed by Polis group members, providing a template for later contributors to follow. The second and third phases will involve invitations being sent out to artists, designers, and other interested parties to submit contributions. Individual contributors need not already be VRML97 programmers, as the final assembly of the virtual gallery will be completed by the project team (for example, an artist may simply submit a 2D image or a piece of text, which will later be translated into the 3D environment).

Get Involved - email the project leader!

- Do you have an artwork, or an idea for an artwork, which you would like to submit for contribution to the show? Remember, works need not respect the categories of "traditional" media, and you do NOT need to know how to program in VRML97.

- If you do have experience with VR programming, would you like to help with assembly of the various contributed works into the final gallery space?

- Do you have any experience or contacts within the "traditional" arts world which may be receptive to this kind of work, for the purposes of distribution or planning associated shows in "real world" art spaces?

- Do you have any experience with/enthusiasm for writing commentaries on art works? We will need someone to edit artists' summaries of their works, to write an introduction to the show and its themes, and to write/distribute press releases for the show - to be distributed on the net and at art spaces at various locations around the world.