[spectre] Threshold artspace, Perth, UK: F R E S H N Y

[Iliyana Nedkova]

F R E S H   N Y
Alisa Andrasek, Michael Bell-Smith, Brody Condon, Brent Green, Tom 
Moody, Takeshi Murata, and Prema Murthy
guest curated by Anne Barlow

Public preview 11am-9pm, Saturday, 3 February 2007, Admission FREE
Threshold artspace, Perth Concert Hall, Horsecross, Mill Street, Perth, 
Scotland, UK

Anne Barlow: Curator's Talk 11am, Wednesday, 31 January 2007, Admission 
FREE
off-site at Dundee Contemporary Arts, 152 Nethergate, Dundee, Scotland, 
UK


New York comes to Perth on Saturday, 3 February 2007. The meeting point 
is Threshold artspace – the contemporary art gallery at the threshold 
of Perth Concert Hall. The occasion is Fresh NY – an exhibition which 
showcases seven of the most exciting young artists working with 
animation and digital media in the New York region—most of whose work 
is being seen in Scotland and the UK for the first time.

Fresh NY's guest curator is Anne Barlow, a Scot based in New York , 
previously at the New Museum of Contemporary Art and just appointed 
Executive Director of Art in General – one of New York's leading 
not-for profit arts organisations.

"Reflecting current tendencies in contemporary digital art", states 
Barlow, "Fresh NY includes an intriguing mix of projects, from 
beautifully crafted animations to hypnotic, computer-generated visuals, 
and work inspired by gaming culture”.

"Fresh NY also adds a vibrant group of international work to Scotland’s 
only permanent collection of digital art at the Threshold artspace, 
which I understand has acquired over 60 works in less than 2 years"

"I am very pleased to welcome Anne as our first guest curator at the 
Threshold artspace", says Iliyana Nedkova, Creative Director New Media 
at Horsecross who is responsible for curating the artspace. "What is 
more, this is Anne's first public appearance in the UK in more than 7 
years since she moved to New York and I believe that we will continue 
working with her in the future"

The public preview of Fresh NY also compliments Bang on a Can – New 
York's electric chamber ensemble who performs in the concert hall 
throughout the day including music by Stephen Reich, Philip Glass and 
Brian Eno. After the all day long public preview, the works featured in 
Fresh NY will become part of the Threshold artspace collection and 
shown regularly as part of the daily programmes.

Fresh NY is produced by Horsecross for the Threshold artspace with 
support from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and in partnership with Art 
in General, New York and the University of Dundee.

MORE about the works in Fresh NY

Brent Green, a self-taught animated filmmaker, presents Hadacol 
Christmas, a strange and haunting story about Mr. Claus who is addicted 
to Hadacol cough syrup.  While aspects of Green’s work conjure up early 
Walt Disney drawings, the dark animations of Tim Burton, or Appalachian 
folk-tales, this short film remains a highly personal production.

Together with Green, the artists Tom Moody and Michael Bell-Smith share 
a love of the 'lo-fi”, but their influences come more from their 
immediate 'graphic landscape' of mobile phone visual displays, urban 
media screens, and web page advertisements.

Tom Moody proudly creates low-tech art with standard off-the-shelf 
products such as simple paint programmes, photocopiers and consumer 
printers. The Threshold Wave goes franticly busy with Moody's tiny 
animated GIFs now scaled up to optical art proportions. Moody belongs 
to a current generation of artists, who use those twinkling and often 
irritating image files that draw your attention on a web page, known as 
GIFs, in playful or ironic ways.

Michael Bell-Smith also operates in the gap between 'smooth' or 
low-tech aesthetics; animated cartoons and painting with unusual 
effectiveness  Much of his work is created by sampling and manipulating 
images from the Internet. As part of Fresh NY he presents Some Houses 
Have Pools – a dreamlike aerial view of an endless suburbia, devoid of 
any specific narrative.  Bell-Smith's main concern is color, space and 
light, tweaked and amplified by digital technology and restrained 
animation.

Alisa Andrasek's work The Invisibles makes its debut on an extra large 
scale at the Threshold Wave of 22 screens. It consists of swirling and 
mesmeric 3D cells scripted in animation software. Andrasek, who 
principally works in the field of architecture, is interested in 
creating what she calls a “pattern intelligence” – which can be applied 
to surfaces and forms in architecture, design, and fashion.

Takeshi Murata pushes the boundaries of animation and psychedelia with 
sophisticated code-based image processing. Recreated as a hypnotic 22 
screen installation Monster Movie is one of his most celebrated video 
work. Its lead character is a B-movie Yeti who decomposes and 
reconstitutes thirty times per second, becoming a seething, digital 
morass of color and form. “Murata’s particular genius is an almost 
alchemical ability to transform forgotten relics of pop culture into 
dazzling jewels” comments the American art journal Artforum.

Brody Condon's widely acclaimed work Karma Physics < Elvis is a 
tongue-in cheek, self-playing version of the popular computer game 
Unreal 2003. As the viewer's camera floats through an infinite pink 
afterlife, multiples of Elvis are controlled by 'Karma Physics' – the 
original game's engine used to simulate realistic game character death. 
Condon's work represents a highlight in the art games series showing on 
the Threshold Stage all year round.

Prema Murthy uses numerical information and video as a sculpting tool. 
As part of Fresh NY the artist presents an especially re-worked short 
film starring some of her strange creatures. The bodies integrate and 
disintegrate according to their fluctuating data values. Murthy's tool 
is a 3D modelling software programme and her skills involve sifting 
through tons of digital data such as immigration patterns, effects of 
global warming, and consumer spending.


ALSO on view at Threshold artspace
On arrival (and departure) at Threshold Welcome you can activate our 
latest Horsecross commission: Matt Green's Time Machines. This is an 
interactive audioscape inspired by sci-fi movies such as Star Trek and 
Blade Runner.

On view (and for sale) at Tay Suite is Susan Collins' Glenlandia The 
Four Seasons – the first artist's limited edition produced by 
Horsecross available as inkjet prints on archival paper in an edition 
of 20, 13.5 x 18 cm, £200 each or £700 for a set of four unframed.


MORE about Bang on a Can All-Stars
Bang on a Can All-Stars, Perth Concert Hall, Saturday 3 February 12.30 
– 4.30pm. Day ticket £15: £12 concessions + £5 student.
Performances will happen throughout the afternoon, leaving you free to 
drop in and out, take in the Fresh NY programme, pause for a drink or a 
meal, or just take in the whole thing. To book call +44 (0)845 612 6319 
or log onto www.horsecross.co.uk

FREE Shuttle Bus
For those of you visiting or residing in Edinburgh – a free shuttle bus 
will be departing from Edinburgh at 10:30am on Saturday 3 February, 
arriving in Perth in time for the Bang on a Can All-Stars performance 
and Fresh NY preview. The bus returns to Edinburgh for the Scottish 
Chamber Orchestra’s evening concert at the Queen’s Hall, and travels 
back to Perth after the concert.  Free bus tickets can be booked 
through Perth Concert Hall or the Queen’s Hall and are free to ticket 
holders of either concert. Advance booking essential.

Threshold artspace, Perth Concert Hall, Horsecross, Mill Street, Perth, 
PH1 5HZ, +44 (0) 845 612 6319,  info at horsecross.co.uk,  
www.horsecross.co.uk
Scotland’s first dedicated gallery for digital public art, with nine 
unique spaces presenting a varied programme of artists’ films, videos, 
editions, games, text, photography, performance, light, sound and 
software art.
For further details please contact Iliyana Nedkova, Horsecross Creative 
Director New Media at inedkova at horsecross.co.uk