During lockdown round one, ACCA announced it was commissioning a slew of new digital contemporary artworks to continue supporting artists (and Melbourne's desire for art) via the online realm. After much anticipation, a brief taste of freedom and another, stricter lockdown, ACCA is finally able to announce the first works in its digital art series, ACCA Open.
There were more than 340 submissions to ACCA Open, from which six exciting digital-only projects were chosen. The program launchesd on August 19 with two works; 'How much time do we have?' by Madeleine Flynn and Tim Humphrey; and 'Neighbour' by Amrita Hepi and Sam Lieblich.
In 'How much time do we have?' Flynn and Humphrey have created a magnificently unsettling audiovisual work that is constantly evolving and changing. Lines and shapes dance together via livestream, backed by a dissonant soundtrack that adds to the overall feeling that you've just fallen through the door in The Twilight Zone. The work is broadcast from a single computer at the artists' studio and is (as its name suggests) intrinsically connected to time – 'How much time do we have?' will continue to broadcast until Melbourne's stage four restrictions are lifted.
Hepi and Lieblich's 'Neighbour' recreates something most internet-enabled Australians are all too well familiar with – an AI chatbot. We guarantee you will have significantly more fun interacting with this chatbot than most, however, with the absurdist digital creature up for conversations about anything, in an attempt to determine the "it" of humans.
ACCA Open's third and fourth projects are 'Aoauli' by Dr Léuli Eshrāghi and 'Multiply' by Archie Barry. In 'Aoauli' (which means midday in Gagana Sāmoa), Eshrāghi turns the screen into a loom, animating barkcloths known as siapo viliata. The digital work is rooted in futurism and asks the viewer to imagine the platform coming to us in 2020 from the year 2025.
In 'Multiply' Barry has created a soundtrack of five tracks (or "personas") that explores the human ability to self-determinate. Don't come expecting coventional, fleshed-out songs – the tracks are an avant-garde mix of sound and music that represent impressions the artist has had in various locations and at various times.
ACCA Open will release the remainder of its digital commissions October 28. Head to the website to engage with the works.
