[Nettime-bold] Donald Rodney: AUTOICON

[Ade Ward <ade@stub.org>]

Donald Rodney AUTOICON

www.iniva.org/autoicon

preview and online discussion 10 June 2000, 5 - 7pm at inIVA

AUTOICON is a dynamic internet work that simulates both the physical
presence and elements of the creative personality of the artist Donald
Rodney who - after initiating the project - died from sickle-cell anaemia in
March 1998. The project builds on Donald Rodney's artistic practice in his
later years, when he increasingly began to delegate key roles in the
organisation and production of his artwork. Making reference to this working
process, AUTOICON is developed by a close group of friends and artists
(ironically described as 'Donald Rodney plc') who have acted as an advisory
and editorial board in the artist's absence, and who specified the rules by
which the 'automated' aspects of the project operate.

AUTOICON is automated by programmed rule-sets and works to maintain creative
output continually. Visitors to the site will encounter a 'live' presence
through a 'body' of data (which refers to the mass of medical data produced
on the human body), be able to engage in simulated dialogue (derived from
interviews and memories), and in turn affect an 'auto-generative'
montage-machine that assembles images collected from the web (rather like a
sketchbook of ideas in flux). Through AUTOICON, participants can generate
new work in the spirit of Donald's art practice as well as offer a challenge
to and critique the idea of monolithic creativity. In this way, the project
draws attention to current ideas around human-machine assemblages,
dis-embodied exchange and deferred authorship - and raises timely questions
over digital creativity, ethics and memorial.

Donald Rodney made considerable use of imagery such as x-ray photography,
blood samples and cellculture to draw attention not only to the medical
condition that was slowly corroding his body, but more importantly as a
metaphor to represent the 'disease' of racism that lay at the core of
society. Please see  www.iniva.org/autoicon/dr for further information on
the artist and his work.

AUTOICON has been produced by STAR, Science Technology Arts Research,
University of Plymouth (Geoff Cox, Angelika Koechert, Mike Phillips); inIVA,
Institute of International Visual Arts (Gary Stewart); and Sidestream
(Adrian Ward); with contributions from Eddie Chambers, Richard Hylton,
Virginia Nimarkoh, Keith Piper, Diane Symons; and with support from the
Arts Council of England (New Media Fund).

For further information, please contact Gary Stewart or Antonia Carver (tel:
020 7729 9616 or email acarver@iniva.org <mailto:acarver@iniva.org>). Please
rsvp to Natasha Anderson (tel: 020 7729 9616 or email institute@iniva.org)


inIVA
6-8 Standard Place, Rivington Street
London EC2A 3BE
tel: +44 (0)207 729 9616
fax: +44 (0)207 729 9509
www.iniva.org




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