Output details

Compumorphic Art: The Computer as Muse

This research explores how the visual language of the computer graphical user interface (GUI) can be reflexively used in contemporary art and design practice. Gwilt devised the term ‘compumorphic art’ during a research fellowship at the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (2010), as a way of describing creative works that reposition the visual language of the computer outside of its use as technological tool, to challenge our understanding, experience, and expectations of digital technologies.

The neologism ‘compumorphic art’ also acts as a summation of work that spans the last decade, through which Gwilt has investigated this premise using three key methodologies: the documentation of practice from artists, designers, and technologists working in this field; the development of a conceptual framework (and terminology) for discussing these types of work; and the creation of artworks that explore this concept through practice-based research.

Outputs within the census period include exhibited works: 'Profit and Loss' (2012), Nesta Artists Showcase London 2013 (one of fifteen selected works from over 200 submissions showcasing innovation in the Arts); ‘folder_flows’ (2010), Newington Armory Gallery, Sydney Australia; and the installation ‘folder_culture’, MIC Media and Interdisciplinary Arts Centre, Auckland, New Zealand. (2010). Gwilt also chaired a panel on compumorphic art at the International Symposium of Electronic Art (ISEA) 2011 in Istanbul. Writings on the subject include: 'Compumorphic Art - The Computer as Muse', Tansdisciplinary Imaging Conference 2010, Sydney (Baker and Thomas); ‘The Graphical User Interface in Art', in The Handbook of Digital Media in Entertainment and Arts, Springer (Furht 2009); ‘MundaneTraces: essays on transitional art practices’, DAB Docs, Sydney (Gwilt and Turnbull, 2008) with accompanying exhibition; and ‘From Digital Interface to Material Artifact’, ISEA 2008 Singapore. A number of digital images have also been exhibited and included in forums such as the ACM SIGGRAPH Digital Arts Community.