
Untitled monuments 1-3 (2010) - Ben Schumacher




Slot Machine (2010) - Jan Robert Leegte

It all started when, on a trip to Germany, I was resting at the hotel bar. My glare was fixed on a slot machine endlessly running its attract mode. Snapping out of the (meanwhile) mesmerised state I was in, I wondered if I could isolate this obscure animation as a work. Back home, I obtained a machine and stripped it of its information (the glass plates, the reels, stickers, sounds, etc). The work basically is a tribute to the unknown programmer. The obscure unknown artist responsible for all the animations, start up modes, test modes, etc. of all the electronic hard- and software out there in the world. It is a found footage work, footage hidden in the interface of an ordinary nameless gambling machine.
"Decode" at the V&A: Digital Reflections and Refractions
A large installation in the Grand Entrance of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum clatters away, registering its presence in this historic hallway. Jointly commissioned (by the V & A and SAP), bit.code (2009), by Julius Popp, consists of a large panel of black and white blocks which appear to represent a curious, indecipherable code as they rotate around their frame. Periodically its units align, clearly depicting popular terms streamed live from news site feeds. In this physical form and location, this is real-time made somehow more timely. Looming over visitors, a literal staging of data being decoded, the work asserts itself as an apt entry portal to "Decode", the V & A's inaugural exhibition of contemporary digital and interactive design.
Yamil Orlando