Alt-w - new directions in Scottish digital culture
First initiated by Scottish Screen in 2000, Alt-W will now benefit from the joint support of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen. Alt-W is a fund for practitioners based in Scotland to make and develop new web-based or digital artworks, devices and creative applications.
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Alt-w is managed by New Media Scotland and has supported over 60 innovative projects since inception. This is the first year that the Scottish Arts Council has supported the programme, reflecting the growing importance of the internet and digital software as a medium for the arts. For 2008 the fund will focus on projects which dynamically engage audiences beyond the screen. |
What is digital art?
The fast-paced world of digital innovation is constantly developing and creating new possibilities for artists. The fund is designed to support projects which challenge the notions of what networked or web-based digital creativity can be.
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To coincide with this year’s fund, an exhibition featuring previously funded artists will take place at the Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) in Glasgow from 2 August. Works to be exhibited include interactive works using cameras, LED lights and move-me - a video booth for dancing, along with other installation works drawing on a range of diverse themes, including tanning salons and eBay. |
Some of the works from the exhibition are web based and can be experienced online including:
- Sun Bed City by Mandy Mcintosh offers a coarse, humorous tour around the rough edge tanning salons of Glasgow and Tokyo.
- The Possession of Christian Shaw by Donna Leishman is an interactive installation based on a famous Scottish case of demonic possession.
- Question for Seller by Nicky Bird used the internet auction site Ebay to create a collection of photographs. The purchased photographs were then collated into a book and resold in an auction on Ebay.
- Magnetic Migration Music by Zoe Irvine is a physical interactive tape mixing desk which allows the audience to browse an archive of tape fragments, re-spool them and explore their sounds while developing their own narrative.
Guidelines are available from the Alt-w website. Deadline for applications: 22 August.
Application surgeries will be held at the CCA in Glasgow on 2, 9 and 16 August from noon-4pm. To book a place or for more information email email New Media Scotland or call 0131 477 3774.
The 2008 recipients will be announced at the close of the exhibition at the Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) on 13 September. |