Neil Cummings
Doug Fishbone
Iain Forsyth
Jane Pollard
Torsten Lauschmann
Lucky PDF
Aura Satz
Hiraki Sawa
Semiconductor
Erika Tan
Thomson and Craighead
The UK's first digital media art award aims to highlight artists who reveal the ways technologies can touch our lives. A shortlist of 10 emerging and established contemporary artists has been selected by a panel of curators from leading arts organisations for a two-week exhibition.
Samsung Electronics are delighted to present the UK’s first ever prize for new media art. A shortlist of 10
emerging and established contemporary artists has been selected by a panel of curators from leading arts
organisations for a two‐week exhibition at the BFI Southbank. Opening on 18 January 2012, the exhibition will
include new work as well as pieces that have never been shown before in the UK.
The Samsung Art+ Prize aims to highlight artists who reveal the ways technologies can touch our lives. All of the
selected artists must be a citizen of, educated in or currently residing in the UK and they have been nominated
for work they have created in the past three years. The shortlisted artists selected are: Neil Cummings, Doug
Fishbone, Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, Torsten Lauschmann, Lucky PDF, Aura Satz, Hiraki Sawa,
Semiconductor, Erika Tan and Thomson and Craighead.
The resulting shortlist showcases the diverse range of practice offered by new media, and includes artists
working in screen friendly idioms as well as those exploring diverse strategies of communication such as
performance, sculpture and music.
The 10 nominated artists have been selected for their ability to expand and challenge our understanding of the
role of new media. In the era of smart media the prize will celebrate the unique ways in which artists respond to
the changing world and embrace the possibilities offered by different media opportunities; not only as platforms
of production and research but also as new modes of communication beyond the traditional gallery.
On 25 January 2012 a series of prizes will be awarded by a panel of judges to exhibiting artists, including a
£10,000 first prize, a £5,000 second prize and an audience award selected by the public via the Samsung Art+
Prize website (http://www.samsung.com/uk/artplus).
In addition to the prizes awarded to the ten shortlisted artists, a lifetime achievement award of £5,000 will be
given to an additional artist who has made an outstanding contribution to the UK new media art scene. This
artist will be selected by the judging panel and announced on 25 January 2012.
Gary Thomas, member of the nomination panel and Director of Animate Projects London said: “Artists have
always exploited technological innovation and the new materials it offers them to make work with. And in our
digital age, as media pervades our culture with its messages, it is all the more vital that they do so. The Samsung
Art+ Prize is an essential recognition of the challenging, inspiring and diverse ways in which contemporary artists
are interrogating and reflecting on our understanding of the 'world'.”
David Song, Managing Director of Samsung Electronics UK & Ireland said: “We are delighted to be working
with curatorial agency SUUM for the very first Samsung Art+ project. The UK has a thriving contemporary art
scene comprised of aspiring and established media artists and we are pleased to have the opportunity to help
drive this new contemporary art genre and inspire future generations of artists. Developing innovative
technologies and nurturing young talent are very important to Samsung as a company.”
Notes to Editors
Definition of new media art
New Media Art is an art genre that encompasses artwork created with new technologies including
but not limited to; digital art, computer animation, virtual art, and interactive art. New Media Art
continues to expand its scope, and is gaining increasing recognition for its innovative adaptation of
cutting edge technologies and interactive engagement of audiences.
About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital
convergence technologies with 2010 consolidated sales of US$135.8 billion. Employing approximately 190,500
people in 206 offices across 68 countries, the company consists of nine independently operated business units:
Visual Display, Mobile Communications, Telecommunication Systems, Digital Appliances, IT Solutions, Digital
Imaging, Memory, System LSI and LCD. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung
Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, semiconductor chips, mobile phones and TFT‐LCDs. For more
information, please visit www.samsung.com.
About Samsung’s Cultural Sponsorship
Samsung has a strong heritage in the visual arts space. It currently has partnerships with the Victoria & Albert
Museum in London and the British Museum where it has created the Samsung Digital Discovery Centre which
offers free activities for school groups and families aimed at bringing history and culture to life through
Samsung’s innovative technology. In 2010, the consumer electronics manufacturer also sponsored Korean artist
Nam June Paik’s retrospective at Tate Liverpool.
About SUUM
SUUM global curatorial agency was founded by art historian and independent curator Jiyoon Lee in 2003. Since
then through contemporary art projects & SUUM Academy it has produced, funded and implemented numerous
international contemporary art exhibition projects across the corporate and public sectors. For more
information, please visit www.suumproject.com.
About the BFI
The BFI is the nation's cultural organisation for film, keeping the breadth of voices in moving image culture alive
and known. Through its venues, festivals, film releases and online, the BFI inspires people to understand and
enjoy film culture, ensuring that everyone in the UK can see the broadest range and choice of films, otherwise
not provided by commercial cinema. The BFI reaches an audience of over 7.5 million in the UK every year.
Shortlist Nominee Panel
David Bailey, International Curators Forum, London
Lina Dzuverovic, Calvert 22 Foundation, London
Clive Gilman, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee
Kate MacGarry, Kate MacGarry Gallery, London
Sally Lai, Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester
Louise Shannon, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Gary Thomas, Animate Projects, London
Tom Trevor, Arnolfini, Bristol
Mark Waugh, SUUM, London
Jen Wu, Temporary Contemporary, London
Samsung Art+ Prize Judging Panel will include Stuart Comer, Curator of Film, Tate Modern, Jan Dalley, Arts
Editor, The Financial Times, Sooja Kim, Artist, New York, USA and Dr. Peter Weibel, Chairman and CEO, ZKM,
Germany.
Shortlisted Artists
Neil Cummings: (B. 1958) Neil Cummings' multidisciplinary arts practice samples and shares conceptual
architectures including critical theory and popular TV to question the structures of cultural exchange and
value. Cummings recently presented a solo exhibition Self Portrait at Arnolfini, Bristol (2011) and in May 2010 he
culminated a two year research project with PARADE in London.
Doug Fishbone: (B. 1969) Doug Fishbone often uses satire and humour within his film, performance and
installation works to examine consumer culture and the mass media in a critical and disarming way. Fishbone
has recently produced and cast himself as the lead role in the Ghanaian‐made film 'Elmina' to question the
impact of ethnic difference within the international market of art and entertainment.
Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard: (B. 1973 and 1972) Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard are Goldsmiths graduates who
focus much of their gaze on the role media plays in defining cultural memory and who we think we are. They are
currently showing at Kate McGarry Gallery in London (10 November – 17 December 2011) and had a recent solo
exhibition PUBLICSFEAR at South London Gallery (closed March 2011).
Torsten Lauschmann (B. 1970) Torsten Lauschmann’s practice includes video projection, animation,
photography, sculpture and performance. Lauschmann professes a suspicion about work that is ‘fixed’ and
develops and amends his pieces each time they are shown. Lauschmann is currently part of the group exhibition
Alice in Wonderland at Tate Liverpool (closes 29 January 2012).
LuckyPDF: (B. 1986) LuckyPDF are an artist collective immersed in social media who make use of the fast‐
changing array of technologies which are at their disposal. Their practice is multifaceted, embracing their social
network (both online and in their physical neighbourhood) and the arts ecology of London. LuckyPDF recently
completed a project at Frieze Art Fair in London (October 2011).
Aura Satz: (B. 1974) The work of Aura Satz is often rooted in magic, the occult, obsolete technologies from the
beginning of the 20th Century as well as the work of pioneers of experimental sound, such as Daphne
Oram. Satz recently presented a solo exhibition of her work Sound Seam at the Wellcome Collection London
(closed January 2011).
Hiraki Sawa: (B. 1977) Hiraki Sawa’s digital animations are presented as single and multi‐screen installations
bringing together meticulous skills with pencil and a mouse. Through his work, Sawa seeks to conjure uncanny
realities in which space is rendered as both intimate and beautiful but quietly troubled. Sawa recently presented
solo exhibitions Other Dwellings at Kresage Art Museum, Michigan State University (closed July 2011) and O at
James Cohan Gallery, New York (closed March 2011).
Semiconductor: (B. 1973 and 1972) Artistic duo Semiconductor (Ruth Jarman and Joe Garhardt), make
innovative moving image works and create animations that pursue a quest to translate the lexicons of science
into aesthetic experiences. Recent solo exhibitions include Worlds in the Making, FACT, Liverpool (closed
September 2011) and their work was included in group exhibition Watch Me Move: The Animation Show,
Barbican, London (closed September 2011).
Erika Tan: (B. 1967) Erica Tan is a Singaporean artist and curator whose work has evolved from an interest in
anthropology and the moving image. Her work is often informed by specific cultural, geographical or physical
contexts; exploring different media to create situations that excite, provoke, question, confront and invite
comments from an audience. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally including The
Singapore Biennale (2006) and Around The World in Eighty Days (South London Gallery / ICA 2007).
Thomson and Craighead: (B. 1969 and 1971) Thomson and Craighead (Jon Thomson & Alison Craighead) are
internationally known for their clever use of found and streamed materials from the web to create provocative
visions of the world we inhabit. Their practice includes producing amateur videos that they transform into
professional pocket‐sized triptychs. They have recently shown their work Flipped Clock via Netart, Berkeley Art
Museum (completed 21 September 2011) and A Short Film about War was shown at the Rotterdam
International Film Festival (2011).
Press Preview: Tuesday 17 2012, 9am-11am
The Project Space, BFI Southbank
Belvedere Road, South Bank - London
Opening Hours: 11:00‐20:00 daily
Admission Free