OCAD University appoints David Rokeby as adjunct professor

 

Monday, February 11, 2013 - 5:00am

(Toronto—February 11, 2013) The Faculty of Art at OCAD University (OCAD U) has appointed Canadian interactive installation artist David Rokeby as Adjunct Professor. His appointment started January 31 and continues until December 31, 2016.

Rokeby is widely considered a pioneer of interactive new media art. His complex digital installations, environmental works and public sculptures explore multi-sensory perception, architecture and embodiment.

“Mr. Rokeby’s deep knowledge of interactive art and commitment to technological innovation will inform and complement our ongoing research and curricular initiatives across the Faculty of Art and OCAD U,” said Vladimir Spicanovic, Dean of OCAD U’s Faculty of Art. “His creativity will surely inspire many of our students and faculty.”

Biography:
David Rokeby has been creating interactive sound and video installations with computers since 1982. His early work Very Nervous System (1982-1991) is acknowledged as a pioneering work of interactive art, translating physical gestures into real-time interactive sound environments. Very Nervous System was presented at the Venice Biennale in 1986, and was awarded the first Petro-Canada Award for Media Arts (1988) and Austria's Prix Ars Electronica Award of Distinction for Interactive Art (1991).

Several of his works have addressed issues of digital surveillance, including Watch (1995), Taken (2002), and Sorting Daemon (2003). Taken was exhibited at the Witney Museum of American Art in New York in 2007. Another of his surveillance works, Watched and Measured (2000) was awarded the first BAFTA award for interactive art from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 2000.

Other works by Rokeby engage in a critical examination of  the differences between human and artificial intelligence. The Giver of Names (1991-) and n-cha(n)t (2001) are artificial subjective entities, provoked by objects or spoken words in their immediate environment to formulate sentences and speak them aloud.

Rokeby's installations have been exhibited extensively around the world. He has been featured in retrospectives at Oakville Galleries (2004), FACT in Liverpool (2007), the CCA in Glasgow (2007) and the Art Gallery of Windsor (2008). He has been an invited speaker at events around the world, and has published two papers that are required reading in the new media arts faculties of many universities.

In 2002, Rokeby was awarded a Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts, the Prix Ars Electronica Golden Nica for Interactive Art (for n-cha(n)t) and represented Canada at the Venice Biennale of Architecture with Seen (2002). In 2004 he represented Canada at the São Paulo Bienal in Brazil. In 2007 he completed major art commissions for the Ontario Science Centre and the Daniel Langlois Foundation in Montréal. His 400 foot long, 72 foot high sculpture long wave was featured at the Luminato Festival in Toronto (2009).

In 2011 and 2012, Rokeby was a guest artist at Le Fresnoy Studio Nationale in Tourcoing, France, and artist-in-residence at the Ryerson Image Centre at Ryerson University, in Toronto. He developed substantial new works for exhibitions in both places in 2012. He is currently working in partnership with Michael Awad on a large kinetic mobile for the public art component of the new Ripley’s Aquarium. Rokeby, who graduated from OCAD University’s Experimental Arts program in 1984, is represented by Pari Nadimi Gallery.

OCAD University (OCAD U):
OCAD University (www.ocadu.ca) is Canada’s “university of imagination.” The university, founded in 1876, is dedicated to art and design education, practice and research and to knowledge and invention across a wide range of disciplines. OCAD University is building on its traditional, studio-based strengths, adding new approaches to learning that champion cross-disciplinary practice, collaboration and the integration of emerging technologies. In the Age of Imagination, OCAD University community members will be uniquely qualified to act as catalysts for the next advances in culture, technology and quality of life for all Canadians.

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Sarah Mulholland, Media & Communications Officer
416-977-6000 x327 (mobile x1327)

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Monday, February 11, 2013 - 5:00am

(Toronto—February 11, 2013) The Faculty of Art at OCAD University (OCAD U) has appointed Canadian interactive installation artist David Rokeby as Adjunct Professor. His appointment started January 31 and continues until December 31, 2016.

Rokeby is widely considered a pioneer of interactive new media art. His complex digital installations, environmental works and public sculptures explore multi-sensory perception, architecture and embodiment.

“Mr. Rokeby’s deep knowledge of interactive art and commitment to technological innovation will inform and complement our ongoing research and curricular initiatives across the Faculty of Art and OCAD U,” said Vladimir Spicanovic, Dean of OCAD U’s Faculty of Art. “His creativity will surely inspire many of our students and faculty.”

Biography:
David Rokeby has been creating interactive sound and video installations with computers since 1982. His early work Very Nervous System (1982-1991) is acknowledged as a pioneering work of interactive art, translating physical gestures into real-time interactive sound environments. Very Nervous System was presented at the Venice Biennale in 1986, and was awarded the first Petro-Canada Award for Media Arts (1988) and Austria's Prix Ars Electronica Award of Distinction for Interactive Art (1991).

Several of his works have addressed issues of digital surveillance, including Watch (1995), Taken (2002), and Sorting Daemon (2003). Taken was exhibited at the Witney Museum of American Art in New York in 2007. Another of his surveillance works, Watched and Measured (2000) was awarded the first BAFTA award for interactive art from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 2000.

Other works by Rokeby engage in a critical examination of  the differences between human and artificial intelligence. The Giver of Names (1991-) and n-cha(n)t (2001) are artificial subjective entities, provoked by objects or spoken words in their immediate environment to formulate sentences and speak them aloud.

Rokeby's installations have been exhibited extensively around the world. He has been featured in retrospectives at Oakville Galleries (2004), FACT in Liverpool (2007), the CCA in Glasgow (2007) and the Art Gallery of Windsor (2008). He has been an invited speaker at events around the world, and has published two papers that are required reading in the new media arts faculties of many universities.

In 2002, Rokeby was awarded a Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts, the Prix Ars Electronica Golden Nica for Interactive Art (for n-cha(n)t) and represented Canada at the Venice Biennale of Architecture with Seen (2002). In 2004 he represented Canada at the São Paulo Bienal in Brazil. In 2007 he completed major art commissions for the Ontario Science Centre and the Daniel Langlois Foundation in Montréal. His 400 foot long, 72 foot high sculpture long wave was featured at the Luminato Festival in Toronto (2009).

In 2011 and 2012, Rokeby was a guest artist at Le Fresnoy Studio Nationale in Tourcoing, France, and artist-in-residence at the Ryerson Image Centre at Ryerson University, in Toronto. He developed substantial new works for exhibitions in both places in 2012. He is currently working in partnership with Michael Awad on a large kinetic mobile for the public art component of the new Ripley’s Aquarium. Rokeby, who graduated from OCAD University’s Experimental Arts program in 1984, is represented by Pari Nadimi Gallery.

OCAD University (OCAD U):
OCAD University (www.ocadu.ca) is Canada’s “university of imagination.” The university, founded in 1876, is dedicated to art and design education, practice and research and to knowledge and invention across a wide range of disciplines. OCAD University is building on its traditional, studio-based strengths, adding new approaches to learning that champion cross-disciplinary practice, collaboration and the integration of emerging technologies. In the Age of Imagination, OCAD University community members will be uniquely qualified to act as catalysts for the next advances in culture, technology and quality of life for all Canadians.

- 30 -

Download this release as a PDF document.

Sarah Mulholland, Media & Communications Officer
416-977-6000 x327 (mobile x1327)