From M/Cyclopedia of New Media
New Media Art
Jon McCormack
- Jon McCormack is an Australian New Media Artist, practising in the field of digital/electronic media art (ACMA, 2005). Jon McCormack has also been described as an artificial life(AL) researcher, and the theme of AL is commonly threaded through his work (Evoweb, 2005).
- My artwork and writing is concerned with evolution, as a process, a metaphor and a philosophical foundation. I am interested with the way we relate and view nature and artifice, design and synthesis, creation and evolution (McCormack, 2004, p. 3).
- His primary artistic practice is the development of computer software. However, he uses interactive installation, virtual reality, film, video and sound as various incorporated media (Bird, Dorin, and McCormack,2004).
Biographical Notes
- Born in 1964, Jon McCormack has lived in Melbourne, Australia all his life.
- Jon McCormack holds a Monash University honours degree in computer science and applied mathematic, as well as his PhD in computer science. He also completed a Graduate Diploma of Art in Film and Television form the Swinburne University.
- Over the years, his work in both the computer graphic arts and artificial life fields, has been recognised internationally with successful exhibitions and numerous awards (Bird, Dorin, and McCormack, 2004).
- The Australia Council New Media Arts Fellowship was awared to Jon McCormack in 1997.
- Jon McCormack is currently the co-director of the Centre for Electronic Media Art at Monash University and is a senior lecturer in computer science.
Key Artworks
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- The artwork Eden, presents the viewer with a completely interactive system of evolution. The program is a self-generating, artificial ecosystem complete with rocks, biomass and sonic animals. These lifeforms begin primatively, and as they interact with their virtual environment and time progresses they evolve and adapt to their ecosystem.
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- Produced in association with the Australian Film Commission, this artwork was three years in the making. It introduces the interactor to the possibilities of new worlds made visible by computers. A menagerie of artificial forms evolve within the computer environment whilst the interactor is guided through the "philosophical impact of evolution on contemporary thought" (McCormack, 2005).
- Turbulence has been described as an internationally recognised piece that is defining to the New Media Art revolution (ACMA, 2005).
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- Universal Zoologies is a collection of self-generating poetic spaces that are navigated by the user. The project was created using a database of phrases from poet Borges and zoologist Richard Dawkins. Each statement is reinterpreted infinately to create a surreal conversation between two artifical humans who explore the subjective nature of evolution and biology (ACMA, 2005).
Further Information
INTERNAL LINKS
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EXTERNAL LINKS
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References
- Bird, J., Dorin, A, and McCormack, J. (2004) Impossible Nature: The Art of Jon McCormack, Victoria: Australian Centre for the Moving Image. ISBN 1920805087
- Australian Centre for the Moving Arts (2005) jon mccormack, retrieved October 4, 2005, from http://www.acmi.net.au/4356E296C2C74F8D99DEC6E5308D4582.jsp
- Australia Council New Media Arts Fellowship (2003) New Media Arts: Grants: Fellowships, retrieved October 27, 2005, from http://www.ozco.gov.au/grants/grants_new_media_arts/fellowships_2005/
- City of Melbourne (2005) Retrieved October 27, 2005, from http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/info.cfm?top=23&pg=966
- Catalano, J. (2001) The world of Richard Dawkins retrieved October 27, 2005, from http://www.simonyi.ox.ac.uk/dawkins/WorldOfDawkins-archive/index.shtml
- EvoWeb (2005) EvoArt: Jon McCormack retrieved October 4, 2005, from http://evonet.lri.fr/evoweb/resources/evoart/jon-mccormack.php
- McCormack, J. (2005) Eden, retrieved October 4, 2005, from http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jonmc/
- Monash University (2005) Retrieved October 27, 2005, from http://www.monash.edu.au/
- Swinburne University (2005) Retrieved October 27, 2005, from http://www.swin.edu.au/
- University of Notre Dame (2005) Southern Cone Literature: Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) retrieved October 27, 2005, from http://www.library.nd.edu/rarebooks/collections/rarebooks/hispanic/southern_cone/borges/index.shtml
- Wark, M. (Unknown) Talking Techno McKenzie Wark interviews Jon McCormack and Troy Innocent retrieved October 4, 2005, from http://www.dmc.mq.edu.au/mwark/warchive/World-art/wart-troy-jon.html
- Wikipedia (2005) Retrieved October 20, 2005, from http://www.wikipedia.org
Contributors to This Entry Include
User:Heike Herrling
Final Word Count: 433
Heike Herrling 17:31, 27 Oct 2005 (EST)
