Timeless: time, landscape and new media

A curated project by Ride, this exhibition of seven artists’ work explored how digital media offer unique ways of representing time in landscape as non-linear experience. ‘Timeless’ was a thematic group exhibition investigating how new media offer different ways to represent ‘time’ in the landscape image – a subject that has traditionally been dominated by photographic and filmic representations privileging linear time-frames and the frozen moment. Ride’s research explored how new media art is more likely to represent landscape using a non-linear time-frame. Ride argued that the inherent qualities of digital material that allow data to be re-purposed encourage artists to visualise time in a less deterministic and more fluid way. Artworks using interaction, manipulation, networking and artificial-life programming were exhibited. Artists included Simon Faithfull, Jane Prophet, Chris Welsby. The underlying curatorial approach challenged the usual emphasis on technological innovation in new media work, instead showing artists’ work within a critical thematic framework that emphasised more fundamental issues of representation and aesthetics. Ride’s curatorial work commenced in 2002 with research into new media artists responding to natural phenomena such as the Aurora (financial support received from AHRC Small Grants in Creative and Performing Arts). Research into time through artists’ interactions with astro-physicists resulted in a symposium ‘Time, Space and the Artist’s Document’ (Nov 2003; speakers including Prof Jana Levin). Exhibition research involved field visits to USA, Canada, Australia and UK. ‘Timeless’ was the major group exhibition of the Toronto Images Festival 2005. The exhibition received a special citation from the Festival Jury for excellence in a curated project. The research was further developed and accepted for two conference presentations (selected by review panels): ‘Engage’ University of Technology, Sydney, November 2005 and The Society for Photographic Education (USA) National Conference 15 – 18 March 2007, Miami. Reviews include The National Post, Canada. Financial support by received from Canadian and British Arts Councils (£8,000)