Hubs, Nodes and Networks: A New History of British Digital Art
This V&A research project, funded by the Paul Mellon Centre, explores the relationships between digital art practitioners, communities and institutions in Britain from the 1960s to the present. It considers the V&A’s Computer Arts Society archive and collection as a central resource.
Digital art is commonly used to describe artistic practices that explore computational materiality and processes, while demonstrating the social impacts of technology. The field initially emerged in the 1960s through collaborations between artists and scientific laboratories. During this period, the Computer Arts Society (CAS) was pivotal in establishing a formal structure of intellectual and artistic inquiry that supported the development of computational and digital arts in Britain. This project investigates these historical beginnings and connects them to the present digital scene.
Speaker bio: Pita Arreola is Curator of Digital Art at the V&A and the co-founder of Off Site Project. Off Site Project is a curatorial platform founded in 2017 that through exhibitions, events and residencies, offers opportunities for international emerging new media talent. Through her curatorial role at the V&A, Pita has generated projects to produce new knowledge around historical artworks from the digital art collection and links between pioneering and emerging generations of digital artists. As an independent curator, she has promoted and supported the work of over 120 digital artists working across the UK, Europe, Asia, Middle East, USA and Latin America. Previously, she has held positions with Furtherfield Gallery and had a career in Cultural PR and Communications where she worked with international organisations including Phillips Auction, Museo Jumex and Gallery Weekend. She is co-editor of Digital Art:1960s to Now, a book showcasing the rich history of digital art practices to be published by Thames & Hudson in October 2024.
Image credit: Masao Kohmura Kunio Yamanaka (Computer Technique Group, Japan), Return To Square (No. 1 in the Metamorphoses Series), 1968, Framed Dimensions: 34 x 24.5 in., lithograph on paper. Masao Kohmura Kunio Yamanaka (Computer Technique Group, Japan) / Photo: The Anne and Michael Spalter Digital Art Collection
