Brian Reffin Smith
Encyclopedia
Brian Reffin Smith is a writer, artist and teacher born in Sudbury in the United Kingdom
. Working with computers since the middle 1960s, he was a pioneer of computer-based conceptual art
, with the aim of trying to resist technological determinism
and "state of the art" technology which might merely produce "state of the technology" art. After showing interactive artworks at the Musée d'art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in 1983 he was invited by the French Ministry of Culture to intervene in art education, and was later appointed to a teaching post in the École nationale supérieure d'art (national art school) in Bourges
.
Smith is a member of the OuPeinPo group of artists, Paris, France; Regent of the College of 'Pataphysics, Paris, France, holding the Chair of Catachemistry and Computational Metallurgy. He is Professeur, École nationale supérieure d'art, Bourges, France.
Smith won the first-ever Prix Ars Electronica
, the Golden Nica, in Linz
, Austria
, 1987. Areas of work, research, teaching and performance include the idea of Zombie
in art and elsewhere, and the détournement
or "hijacking" of systems, mechanisms, programs etc. from computing and other areas of science and technology, to make conceptual art. Smith claims to have become a Zombie, and hence to have a deeper insight into problems of artificial intelligence and art, after a botched heart operation in a Paris hospital when, instead of the more usual latex balloon being used to inflate a blocked artery during angioplasty, the team had recourse to a puffer fish (or fugu).
He studied at Brunel University
and the Royal College of Art
, where he held a Research Fellowship in 1979 and was then appointed College Tutor in computer-based art and design at the RCA from 1980 to 1984. He taught widely in the UK and France including most London art schools, the Open University
in the UK and the Sorbonne
in Paris
.
He lives and works in Berlin
and France
.
Exhibitions of conceptual art
, installation art
, performance art
etc. shown internationally include "Electra", Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
, 1983; Fondation Cartier, Paris, Galerie Zwinger, Berlin, and Krammig & Pepper Contemporary, Berlin, 1986-. He played sixth clarinet in the notorious Portsmouth Sinfonia
, and regularly performs Steampunk
music. Exhibitions of his work frequently include songs written for the occasion, often on CDs nailed to the walls.
In addition to many books on computers for children and on computer-based arts for adults, he has broadcast and written widely on art, and computers for art, in science, art and computing journals and magazines, and for British and European television and radio broadcasters and newspapers.
In his chapter in "White Heat Cold Logic: British Computer Art 1960-1980" (Ed. by Paul Brown, Charlie Gere, Nicholas Lambert and Catherine Mason, M.I.T. Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts (USA) 2009) Smith wrote:
"There is a mine, a treasure trove, a hoard – I cannot emphasize this too strongly – of art ideas that emerged in the early decades of computer art that still have not remotely been explored. We know how this happens. The next big thing comes along and the Zeitgeist has its demands: things get left behind…"
This quotation inspired an influential symposium "Ideas before their time" held at the British Computer Society in February 2010 at which Smith was the invited Keynote speaker.
"Of course computers and other devices will never fully understand flowing, allusive conversation. But they won't care." -- "The purpose of the computer in art is to render it difficult and problematic, not easy." -- "i, the imaginary square root of minus 1 (√-1) is to the real numbers as the computer is — or should be — to art." -- "The best interactive art always makes you look at the participants." 43 Dodgy Statements on Computer Art. - Described by Wired as "Timeless".
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Working with computers since the middle 1960s, he was a pioneer of computer-based conceptual art
Conceptual art
Conceptual art is art in which the concept or idea involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. Many of the works, sometimes called installations, of the artist Sol LeWitt may be constructed by anyone simply by following a set of written instructions...
, with the aim of trying to resist technological determinism
Technological determinism
Technological determinism is a reductionist theory that presumes that a society's technology drives the development of its social structure and cultural values. The term is believed to have been coined by Thorstein Veblen , an American sociologist...
and "state of the art" technology which might merely produce "state of the technology" art. After showing interactive artworks at the Musée d'art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in 1983 he was invited by the French Ministry of Culture to intervene in art education, and was later appointed to a teaching post in the École nationale supérieure d'art (national art school) in Bourges
Bourges
Bourges is a city in central France on the Yèvre river. It is the capital of the department of Cher and also was the capital of the former province of Berry.-History:...
.
Smith is a member of the OuPeinPo group of artists, Paris, France; Regent of the College of 'Pataphysics, Paris, France, holding the Chair of Catachemistry and Computational Metallurgy. He is Professeur, École nationale supérieure d'art, Bourges, France.
Smith won the first-ever Prix Ars Electronica
Prix Ars Electronica
The Prix Ars Electronica is one of the most important yearly prizes in the field of electronic and interactive art, computer animation, digital culture and music...
, the Golden Nica, in Linz
Linz
Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, 1987. Areas of work, research, teaching and performance include the idea of Zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
in art and elsewhere, and the détournement
Detournement
A détournement is a technique developed in the 1950s by the Letterist International, and consist in "turning expressions of the capitalist system against itself." Détournement was prominently used to set up subversive political pranks, an influential tactic called situationist prank that was...
or "hijacking" of systems, mechanisms, programs etc. from computing and other areas of science and technology, to make conceptual art. Smith claims to have become a Zombie, and hence to have a deeper insight into problems of artificial intelligence and art, after a botched heart operation in a Paris hospital when, instead of the more usual latex balloon being used to inflate a blocked artery during angioplasty, the team had recourse to a puffer fish (or fugu).
He studied at Brunel University
Brunel University
Brunel University is a public research university located in Uxbridge, London, United Kingdom. The university is named after the Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel....
and the Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
, where he held a Research Fellowship in 1979 and was then appointed College Tutor in computer-based art and design at the RCA from 1980 to 1984. He taught widely in the UK and France including most London art schools, the Open University
Open University
The Open University is a distance learning and research university founded by Royal Charter in the United Kingdom...
in the UK and the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
He lives and works in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Exhibitions of conceptual art
Conceptual art
Conceptual art is art in which the concept or idea involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. Many of the works, sometimes called installations, of the artist Sol LeWitt may be constructed by anyone simply by following a set of written instructions...
, installation art
Installation art
Installation art describes an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called Land art; however, the boundaries between...
, performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
etc. shown internationally include "Electra", Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris is the City of Paris Museum of Modern Art dedicated to the arts of the 20th/21st centuries. It is located at 11 Avenue du Président Wilson in the 16th arrondissement of Paris.-Description:...
, 1983; Fondation Cartier, Paris, Galerie Zwinger, Berlin, and Krammig & Pepper Contemporary, Berlin, 1986-. He played sixth clarinet in the notorious Portsmouth Sinfonia
Portsmouth Sinfonia
The Portsmouth Sinfonia was an orchestra founded by a group of students at the Portsmouth School of Art in Portsmouth, England, in 1970. The Sinfonia had an unusual entrance requirement, in that players had to either be non-musicians, or if a musician, play an instrument that was entirely new to...
, and regularly performs Steampunk
Steampunk
Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Steampunk involves a setting where steam power is still widely used—usually Victorian era Britain or "Wild West"-era United...
music. Exhibitions of his work frequently include songs written for the occasion, often on CDs nailed to the walls.
In addition to many books on computers for children and on computer-based arts for adults, he has broadcast and written widely on art, and computers for art, in science, art and computing journals and magazines, and for British and European television and radio broadcasters and newspapers.
In his chapter in "White Heat Cold Logic: British Computer Art 1960-1980" (Ed. by Paul Brown, Charlie Gere, Nicholas Lambert and Catherine Mason, M.I.T. Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts (USA) 2009) Smith wrote:
"There is a mine, a treasure trove, a hoard – I cannot emphasize this too strongly – of art ideas that emerged in the early decades of computer art that still have not remotely been explored. We know how this happens. The next big thing comes along and the Zeitgeist has its demands: things get left behind…"
This quotation inspired an influential symposium "Ideas before their time" held at the British Computer Society in February 2010 at which Smith was the invited Keynote speaker.
Quotations
"Between black and white, there is always red.""Of course computers and other devices will never fully understand flowing, allusive conversation. But they won't care." -- "The purpose of the computer in art is to render it difficult and problematic, not easy." -- "i, the imaginary square root of minus 1 (√-1) is to the real numbers as the computer is — or should be — to art." -- "The best interactive art always makes you look at the participants." 43 Dodgy Statements on Computer Art. - Described by Wired as "Timeless".
External links
- http://www.zombiepataphysics.blogspot.com
- http://www.drunkenboat.com/db8/oulipo/feature-oulipo/para/oupeinpo/foulc/oupeinpo_en.html
- http://www.ensa-bourges.fr/index.php
- http://www.krammig-pepper.com/