National New Media Art Awards Announced 3 August 2012 Naomi Gall Artery » Blog, Inter-Arts » National New Media Art Awards Announced George Khut was yesterday announced as the winner of the 2012 National New Media Art Award for his work Distillery: Waveforming. The winning entry was originally developed to assist children who were undergoing medical treatment in hospital by enabling the viewer, through a clip-on heat monitor, iPad and a specially developed program, to see a visual representation of their beating heart. Demonstrating a vivid connection between body and mind, Khut’s work is a pertinent reminder of our own mortality and the numerous layers of humanity. The selection committee, which comprised of Queensland Art Gallery| Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) Acting Director Suhanya Raffel, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts Director Amy Barrett and media artist Daniel Crooks, commented that Khut’s entry poetically explored the interactions between the mind and body; art and science. The biennial award program comprises of the $75, 000 New Media Art award as well as a $25, 000 Queensland New Media Scholarship for an emerging Queensland-based artist. Khut’s work, along with the seven other artists short-listed, will be on display at GOMA until 4 November 2012. Ricardo Peach, Acting Director of the Inter-Arts Office, says, “Australian media artists honoured at this year’s National New Media Art awards at GOMA has shown again that extraordinary innovation and experimentation can go hand in hand with brilliant artistic outcomes. I would like to congratulate George Khut on winning this year’s award for his beautiful work Distillery: Waveforming, and also acknowledge the other artists selected for such a prestigious show. The Australia Council is proud to have supported the practice to date of seven out of the eight of these participants, and wish them all the best in continuing to produce work of such national significance.” These artists have been supported through Inter-Arts, Music, Visual Arts and Market Development funding programs, and they have each been part of numerous prestigious exhibitions and collaborative projects. George Khut’s experimental research and creative development has been supported through Inter-Arts Projects and an ArtLab collaborative research project, Thinking through the Body. The Australia Council has also supported Kirsty Boyle’s innovative work with robotic puppeteering and performance; Karen Casey’s exploration of consciousness via brainwaves, performance and media arts which recently was shown at the ISEA 2011 in Istanbul; Robin Fox’s experimental sound, audio visual performance and scientific collaborations; Petra Gemeinboeck and Rob Saunders’ robotic art installations; Ian Haig’s visceral animatronic sculpture; and Leah Heiss’ exploration of design, nanotechnology, science and the relationship of people and artefacts. Ross Manning’s playful exploration of kinetic sculpture, sound, light and technology has been presented at Primavera 09, MONA FOMA 2010, and he won the Churchie National Emerging Art Prize in 2011. For further information about the National New Media Art Award, Scholarship and exhibition check out the GOMA website. Image Credit: George Poonkhin Khut / Australia b.1969 / Distillery: Waveforming (Portrait of Lian) 2012 / Camera: Julia Pendrill Charles; styling: Troy Brennan / Courtesy: The artist

National New Media Art Awards Announced
3 August 2012
Naomi Gall
Artery » Blog, Inter-Arts » National New Media Art Awards Announced

George Khut was yesterday announced as the winner of the 2012 National New Media Art Award for his work Distillery: Waveforming. The winning entry was originally developed to assist children who were undergoing medical treatment in hospital by enabling the viewer, through a clip-on heat monitor, iPad and a specially developed program, to see a visual representation of their beating heart. Demonstrating a vivid connection between body and mind, Khut’s work is a pertinent reminder of our own mortality and the numerous layers of humanity.

The selection committee, which comprised of Queensland Art Gallery| Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) Acting Director Suhanya Raffel, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts Director Amy Barrett and media artist Daniel Crooks, commented that Khut’s entry poetically explored the interactions between the mind and body; art and science.
The biennial award program comprises of the $75, 000 New Media Art award as well as a $25, 000 Queensland New Media Scholarship for an emerging Queensland-based artist. Khut’s work, along with the seven other artists short-listed, will be on display at GOMA until 4 November 2012.

Ricardo Peach, Acting Director of the Inter-Arts Office, says, “Australian media artists honoured at this year’s National New Media Art awards at GOMA has shown again that extraordinary innovation and experimentation can go hand in hand with brilliant artistic outcomes. I would like to congratulate George Khut on winning this year’s award for his beautiful work Distillery: Waveforming, and also acknowledge the other artists selected for such a prestigious show. The Australia Council is proud to have supported the practice to date of seven out of the eight of these participants, and wish them all the best in continuing to produce work of such national significance.”

These artists have been supported through Inter-Arts, Music, Visual Arts and Market Development funding programs, and they have each been part of numerous prestigious exhibitions and collaborative projects. George Khut’s experimental research and creative development has been supported through Inter-Arts Projects and an ArtLab collaborative research project, Thinking through the Body. The Australia Council has also supported Kirsty Boyle’s innovative work with robotic puppeteering and performance; Karen Casey’s exploration of consciousness via brainwaves, performance and media arts which recently was shown at the ISEA 2011 in Istanbul; Robin Fox’s experimental sound, audio visual performance and scientific collaborations; Petra Gemeinboeck and Rob Saunders’ robotic art installations; Ian Haig’s visceral animatronic sculpture; and Leah Heiss’ exploration of design, nanotechnology, science and the relationship of people and artefacts. Ross Manning’s playful exploration of kinetic sculpture, sound, light and technology has been presented at Primavera 09, MONA FOMA 2010, and he won the Churchie National Emerging Art Prize in 2011.

For further information about the National New Media Art Award, Scholarship and exhibition check out the GOMA website.

Image Credit: George Poonkhin Khut / Australia b.1969 / Distillery: Waveforming (Portrait of Lian) 2012 / Camera: Julia Pendrill Charles; styling: Troy Brennan / Courtesy: The artist

Source: artery.australiacouncil.gov.au