Digital art finds permanent home on Sydney’s streets

Sydney’s largest electricity substation has now become the country’s first permanent, public gallery for digital based art, after the official launch of Grid Gallery recently.

EnergyAustralia Managing Director George Maltabarow said Grid Gallery would showcase the digital works of media-based artists via an energy efficient LED art wall.

“Grid Gallery is about power and light,” Mr Maltabarow said.

“It’s located on the external wall of our eight storey City North Zone Substation – the largest substation our city has ever seen.

“We have turned over this space to our digital artistic community to display their work based on a calendar of themed, rotating exhibits.

“We believe it’s a world first – to combine critical electrical infrastructure with cutting edge media-based art in a public gallery.”

The physical space for the gallery will be combined with an online web portal for artists to submit and display their work. The Grid Gallery LED screen is 15 metres long and 1 metre wide, and the electricity used to light it will be matched with 100% GreenPower.

Each month, a new brief with a unique theme will be released for media artists across Australia to respond to.

Ten of the best submissions will be chosen for the on-line gallery at www.gridgallery.com.au, and a final shortlist of four submissions will be chosen to occupy the physical gallery at the City North Zone Substation.

Independent curator Deborah Turnbull, Director of New Media Curation, has been selected along with Leo Burnett’s to manage the gallery space.

Ms Turnbull said the project was an exciting opportunity for new media artists and the broader public who will be able to view the gallery at the street level.

“It’s an exciting and intriguing project because it is physically, architecturally and virtually situated,” Ms Turnbull said.

“It’s been conceived this way from its preliminary planning nearly 10 years ago. The architectural structure of EnergyAustralia’s new City North Zone Substation houses the physical component at the corner of Erskine and Sussex Streets.

“The web portal is also a key component; allowing a visitor the chance to view the online gallery, while an artist can submit works.”

Grid Gallery has partnered with VIVID Sydney 2010 for its inaugural launch and will act as a bridging site from Darling Harbour through the CBD and up into Macquarie Street. It will feature footage used within VIVID Sydney 2010 from both Macquarie Visions and VIVID Live, along with up to date photo and video footage of the event itself.

The works of digital artists Ernest Edmonds, Ian Gwilt, Chris Bowman and Steph Rajalingham will be the first featured at Grid Gallery. These artists perform practise-based research in computational, augmented and interactive art at the University of Technology, Sydney.

“Each of these artists’ dossiers boast award, publication, and profile, making them excellent candidates as inaugural artists for Grid Gallery,” Ms Turnbull said.

Artist submissions open on Thursday 27 May 2010.

Preliminary submission deadline is 18 June 2010.

Preliminary exhibition date is 1 August 2010.