At long last, new media art in the UK is getting a prize of its own — though the conception of the term is as open-ended as it gets.
The shortlist for the inaugural Samsung Art+ Prize was announced today. Neil Cummings, Doug Fishbone, Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, Torsten Lauschmann, Lucky PDF, Aura Satz, Hiraki Sawa, Semiconductor, Erika Tan, and Thomson and Craighead are all in the race to bag the £10,000 ($15,569) prize, which will be awarded during a ceremony at London's British Film Institute on January 25, 2012.
The focus is on the UK which, until now, had been lagging behind in terms of new media art platforms. Nominees have to be citizens of, educated, or based in the country. "The Samsung Art+ Prize will certainly generate interest in media art more generally," said Gary Thomas from London's Animate Projects, who sat on the nominators' panel. "This cannot help but inspire a wider constituency of artists engaged in innovative practice throughout the UK."
If Hiraki Sawa, best known for his dream-like animations, and Lucky PDF, the hot young collective who broadcasted live TV online throughout the last Frieze Art Fair, seem like natural choices, other nominations might surprise. Doug Fishbone's latest project, the narrative feature "Elmina," shot in Ghana with an all-African crew except for the artist (who played the lead role of a Ghanaian farmer), would sit more happily in a traditional film competition. Likewise, Ian Forsyth and Jane Pollard's pithy short films are clearly part of the not-terribly-new medium of experimental filmmaking.
The question is thus: what is new media art? For Samsung Art+ Prize's organizers, the term encompasses, "but is not limited to, digital art, computer animation, virtual art, and interactive art." Despite the shortlist, film isn't mentioned in the official blurb, nor the relevance of the BFI as the venue explained.
Still — and whatever the label — the celebration and encouragement of artistic production can only be welcomed when art and education funding in the UK is being squeezed left, right, and center.
Shortlisted artists Thomason and Craighead have expressed their concern that the country might not be able to sustain its creative industry with the forthcoming cuts in higher education: "The UK has a long tradition of punching well above its weight in art and design and this has always included experimenting with and exploring new media in all its forms," they said. "Perhaps it can be put down in part to having some of the best art schools in the world. We do hope this can be allowed to continue in light of such severe government reform of higher education, where public funding for the arts is in such steep decline."
On January 25, the judging panel — comprising Tate curator of film Stuart Comer, Financial Times arts editor Jan Dalley, artist Sooja Kim, and ZKM CEO Peter Weibel — will also present an artist with a £5,000 ($7,784) lifetime achievement award.
An exhibition of the shortlisted artists will take place at London's BFI from January 18 to January 29, 2012.