New Zealand Media Art Travels to Shanghai

New Zealand Media Art Travels to Shanghai

MEDIA RELEASE
21 MAY 2007

An exhibition of three New Zealand artists will travel to Shanghai in
May at the invitation of the Third Shanghai International Science and
Art Exposition.

The exhibition, entitled "Geomatics and Ecomatics: Three Stories,"
features digital media artworks that offer new ways of visualising
the New Zealand environment.

Curator Danny Butt says that the relationships between science and
art are a growing area of exploration in the international arena, and
the exhibition is a great opportunity to showcase the depth of
research talent in New Zealand's new media art community.

"People often think about art and science as different worlds, but
there is an increasing recognition that both fields are about
innovation and pursuing new knowledge and experience. They're not
professional scientists, but the artists in the show definitely have
a rigorous methodology to their investigations, and leave us with new
ways of understanding the world around us."

The environmental theme is no accident, Butt said. "New Zealand is
known internationally for its physical beauty, and also its
bicultural relationships between settlers and Maori. New Zealanders
know that there are a lot of different ways you can think about land
and the environment."

Janine Randerson's installation "Remote senses; storms nearby"
combines images from New Zealand and Chinese satellite databases with
television footage of extreme weather, suggesting connections between
local weather events and global climate change.

Douglas Bagnall's "Cloud Shape Classifier" is a computer program
which receives data on the audience's favourite cloud images and
learns to find more that they will like. Bagnall's commentary on the
project website sardonically suggests that, "many people would like
to see interesting clouds, but lack the spare time in which to look
upwards."

Natalie Robertson's "Uncle Tasman - The Trembling Current that Scars
the Earth" is a retelling of a traditional story of the epic love
triangle between the three mountains, Putauaki, Tarawera, and
Whakaari; near the artist's birthplace in Kawerau. The story is given
additional pathos through the inclusion of a recent arrival into the
landscape, the Kawerau paper processing mill, whose toxic waste has
had a devastating effect on the environment and local Maori.

The latter two works were previously exhibited at the 2006
International Symposium for Electronic Arts / ZeroOne Festival in San
Jose, where Butt was on the advisory board. A key theme of that event
was the opportunity to further develop artistic networks in the Asia
Pacific region. Randerson and Bagnall will accompany Butt to the
exposition and public forum, which opens at Shanghai's Pudong Expo on
May 10th.

"Developing the personal relationships with artists and curators in
Shanghai is an important part of the process. We're looking to bring
Chinese artists to New Zealand in the future as well, there are
tremendous opportunities in both directions."

The 3rd Shanghai International Science and Art Exposition is one of
the most important events of the annual Shanghai Science and
Technology Festival. In 2006 the Exposition attracted 60
organizational and individual participants from 14 countries and
regions of China, U.S.A, U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Australia,
Norway, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong and Taiwan. On
the first day of the 2006 event the Exposition welcomed nearly 40,000
visitors.

An essay for the exhibition and images of the works are available at
http://geomatics.dannybutt.net

The website for the Shanghai International Science and Art Exposition
is at: http://www.science-art.com.cn

Contact: Danny Butt, danny@dannybutt.net

Phone: +64 21 456 379

Janine Randerson gratefully acknowledges the support of Unitec and
the University of Waikato.

ENDS

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