It’s the digital age and technology is moving ever faster, presenting challenges to the way people see the world.
It’s this nexus that is explored in a new touring exhibition coming to Geelong Gallery this month.
People Like Us is a major exhibition in partnership with Museums and Galleries of NSW (MGNSW) exploring the inter-relationship between art, technology and human experience.
The exhibition brings together artistic interpretations of the capacity new media and technologies bring for experimentation with ideas and information in the 21st century.
Exhibition curator and UNSW Galleries director Felicity Fenner said the works used moving image, interactive digital technologies, data visualisation, sound and music to explore connections between people their environments.
“Reflecting our innovative use of new media, contemporary artists have in turn embraced technology more than any previous generation of artists, as they explore evolving attitudes and articulations of the human experience.
“These new technologies are shaping a new version of the human story, and this area is a fascinating platform for discussion on our world today.”
The exhibition utilises a great deal of interactivity with a wide variety of opportunities for visitors to engage with the artworks, Ms Fenner said.
George Poonkhin Khut’s Brighthearts app uses real-time bio feed data in heart rate controlled images and sound.
John McGhee’s digital animations invite visitors to take the wheel on a wild ride through human blood vessels.
Volker Kuchelmeister and Laura Fisher’s Veloscape tracks participants’ emotional responses as they take a virtual bicycle tour of Sydney inside the gallery space.
Ms Fenner said people Like Us presented a number of Australian premiere works by high profile international artists.
Michael Nyman’s poignant symphonic sound work was commissioned by the 2014 Liverpool Biennale to mark the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough stadium collapse.
Italian video artist Yuri Ancarani’s presents Da Vinci, an acclaimed, uncanny portrayal of a robotic surgical procedure that confounded visitors to the Venice Biennale.
Award-winning Luxembourg artist Su-Mei Tse’s aurally immersive purring cat portraits confirm why cats are today the most searched for creature on the internet.
Well-known Australian artists include Aboriginal-Chinese artist Jason Wing whose sound work tells a moving story about the Stolen Generations.
Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro’s first ever video work celebrates the Australian love of the car as it documents a mechanic patiently dismantling and rebuilding a racing car before our eyes.
The National Exhibitions Touring Support Australia exhibition is open from 18 June to 21 August.
