The British Science Festival and Brighton Digital Festival have partnered to co-commission a new digital artwork that explores the possibilities of technology to re-imagine, reinvent and reinterpret place.

Both parties are delighted to announce Dominic Hawgood as the selected artist chosen to create a new piece of work for exhibition at the University of Brighton, Edward St Campus throughout the British Science Festival and Brighton Digital Festival (5 September to 13 October 2017).

Dominic Hawgood will work over the coming months to develop a site-specific installation with 2K animation that will digitally reconstruct, in full, a major solo exhibition of his that was recently, and unexpectedly, cancelled.  The animation will be a realistic architectural walk-through, serving as a hallucinogenic window into another world. It will contemplate the shifting horizons of physical and virtual environments, question the role of the gallery, explore how light installation can be experienced in the virtual, and involve interactive elements.

Dominic Hawgood is a cross disciplinary artist, researching topics about the role of the lens within visual effects as well as the transformational qualities of digital imaging. His practice has emerged out of photography’s expanded field and diversified to include light installation, sculpture, moving image, and CGI. He is interested in psychological space and perception, which he explores through the application of lighting and imaging technologies. Integrated into his workflow are elements of product and architectural design, manifesting in the site-specific set builds he constructs and the virtual worlds he creates.

Acoustic and interactive elements of this commission will be developed in collaboration with Gregory White, an artist and coder working at the intersection of art, music, and technology and is interested in machine learning and chance-based music.

Dominic Hawgood says, “I've been pushing my practice towards simulation, exploring how environments can be constructed digitally, collaborating, and finding my own way into CG. The curatorial ideas BSF and BDF were discussing aligned closely with concerns of my own, so I'm excited to have the support to recognise a new work.”

Ivvet Modinou, British Science Festival Director, says, “We’re delighted to be working with Brighton Digital Festival to bring this ambitious new installation to Brighton. Dominic’s proposed artwork, exploring themes of perception and place using the latest imaging techniques, is an exciting addition to the British Science Festival programme.”

Laurence Hill, Brighton Digital Festival Director, says, “This project is an exciting one for us, representing both a new partnership and the chance to support a rising star of the digital art world in the creation of a new piece of work.”