Archived exhibition

JODI: Variable Art for the ZX Spectrum

Exhibition: 1 – 28 August 2016

Opening reception: Sunday 31 July at 16:00 – 18:00

Opening times: Thursday 11:00 - 20:00, Friday - Sunday 11:00 - 18:00

Centrespace, Visual Research Centre

NEoN Digital Arts Festival and Centrespace DJCAD presents JODI’s first exhibition in Dundee. The artist duo, also known as Jodi.org, is considered one of the most influential artist groups working on the Web and important pioneers in the artistic manipulation of videogames. Their contributions to digital, avant-garde art have inspired many artists and cultural thinkers. The exhibition features JODI’s experiments based on the ZX Spectrum; the 8-bit home computer that was manufactured in Dundee. It includes their programmes written in the computer language BASIC and their modification of ‘Jet Set Willy’, the popular platform game made available for the ZX Spectrum in the mid 80s.

One of the intriguing aspects of JODI’s working process is their continuous re-presentation or restaging of their works, a strategy through which they revisit older projects by letting them adapt to new technological environments and transferring them to different mediums - from videogames and websites to user-instructions, videos and maps. JODI’s critical strategies of reformatting existing works shows how their art is variable and transforms over time.

The exhibition seeks to introduce the lives of these artworks. It is divided into two sections; each will investigate a single work of art and the different variations and versions of it. The works are contextualized by archival material, which reveals how these artworks are embedded within the history of both art and technology.

Joan Heemskerk (Dutch, born 1968) and Dirk Paesmans (Belgium, born 1965) together form JODI, an artistic duo living and working in the Netherlands. Recently they were awarded the Prix NetArt 2014 for their web works, and their installation ‘My%Desktop’ (2002) was acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2015.

Special events

DiGRA Play Party

Tuesday 2 August 20:30 – midnight

Verdant Works, Dundee

On August 2 JODI will stage their performance with the ‘ZYX-app’, an iPhone application that encourages the user to become a performer. The performance will be part of the DiGRA Play Party, which will take place in one of Dundee’s most historic industrial venues, an atmospheric setting for an informal evening of drinks and dancing with the legendary Richard Lemarchand on the decks. Entry will be by ticket only. www.digra-fdg2016.org

DARE Protoplay

4 – 7 August

Thursday – Saturday 10:00 – 18:00, Sunday 10:00 – 16:00

Caird Hall, City Square, Dundee

For DARE ProtoPlay NEoN will present a complimentary exhibition ‘JODI: ZX Spectrum Game Experiments’. A look at their work ‘Jet Set Willy Variations’, consisting of modifications of the 1984 video game ‘Jet Set Willy’. These versions find inspiration in the non-narrative parts of the game and become increasingly abstract often reminiscent of the abstract paintings of such artists as Piet Mondrian or Peter Halley. DARE ProtoPlay is UK's biggest Indie games festival and showcases a variety of indie games from local, national and international developers.

www.daretobedigital.com

NEoN Digital Arts Festival Save the Date: 9 – 13 November 2016

The exhibition ’JODI: Variable Art for the ZX Spectrum’ is part of NEoN’s series of pop-up exhibitions and events to support the presentation of digital artistic practices within other cultural events happening across the city. NEoN Digital Arts Festival celebrates its 7th edition in November 2016 with a hybrid mix of exhibitions, installations, audio & performance across the city of Dundee. This year NEoN will collaborate with national and international artists to get to know better the spaces we are in, and consider alternatives uses and futures for them, both virtually and materially.

Image: JODI, Jet Set Willy Variations, 2002, ZX Spectrum emulator

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This exhibition is organised by NEoN Digital Arts Festival and made possible with generous support of Creative Scotland and DJCAD (University of Dundee).

Centrespace in the Visual Research Centre, DJCAD and is located on the lower floors of Dundee Contemporary Arts, 152 Nethergate, Dundee.