Announcing the four selected artists for hotel generation ’19…
This year the third edition of hotel generation takes shape again as an artist development programme aimed at artists up to the age of 26 and specifically from outside of London, within the UK. In February we put out an open call for exhibition proposals based on our 2019 programme theme: Home.
From the open call we shortlisted four artists: Isabelle Bolt (Manchester), Jacob Bolton (Liverpool), Henry Driver (Norwich), and Sarah Selby (Bristol). They will each received a stipend for the research and development stage of their proposal lasting three months. Working closely with the arebyte team, the shortlisted four are being provided with professional guidance, studio visits, critical feedback, and general mentoring and assistance.
Meet the artists
Manchester based Izzy Bolt is an audio visual artist and producer. She is also the Creative Director and Curator of VAM a visuals, art and music collective based in Manchester.
A self-taught artist, Izzy specialises in live generative digital visuals and electronic music, focusing on forming unreal 3D landscapes and soundscapes. A VJ in the Manchester scene, her project is heightening live sound experience through moving image.
Listen to what Izzy’s got planned for her proposal for this year’s programme…
Liverpool based Jacob Bolton writes, designs and makes art. His big interest is public space — both digital and IRL — and how we understand, access, and interact through it. He writes exhibition reviews for ArtReview, The Double Negative and a few other places.
He also designs websites, books, and exhibitions, and does other text and design-based commissions. Other things he’s into include physical internet infrastructure, prejudice encoded into AI, and net-based political climates.
Here Jacob discusses his initial proposal for hotel generation 2019…
Norwich based Henry Driver creates artworks to communicate and raise awareness for pressing issues and questions that our societies face. Thematically, technology is particularly prominent, as he feels it is progressing at such a rapid rate, that the comprehension and ethics are severely lagging. Henry utilises and combines a variety of mediums such as experimental games design, CGI, VR, AI, facial detection, projection mapping, video, sound and sculpture.
He has shown internationally in Berlin, Melbourne, Copenhagen, Toronto, Sydney and, most recently, in Montreal for MUTEK Festival.
Henry discusses his proposal and plans here…
Bristol based Sarah Selby is an interdisciplinary artist interested in creative applications of pervasive technology. Born at the intersection of the Millennials and ‘iGeneration’, her work is heavily inspired by her unique perspective on the rapid changes in technology and the societal impacts. She explores the relationship between the digital and physical through tangible objects that fuse our two worlds – exploring how they overlap, contradict and impact one another. Sarah is interested in collaboration with fields outside of the creative industry, exploring how the combination of diverse thought-processes can generate innovative outcomes.
Sarah graduated from Interactive Arts at Manchester Metropolitan University in 2017 and was awarded the MMU Science Community Award after being selected to participate in interdisciplinary residency ‘Roche Continents’. She was also recently shortlisted for the Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize 2019 under the New Media category.
Sarah talks us through her proposal and practice here…
What’s next?
In August 2019, the final selected participant will be selected by a judging panel. This year, we invited Alan Warburton (multi-disciplinary artist based in London), new media specialist David Gryn (Director and Founder of daata editions), digital art curator Kelani Nichole (Director and founder of TRANSFER Gallery, NY), Beryl Graham (Course Leader / Prof. of New Media Art, University of Sunderland) and Irini Papadimitriou (Creative Director of Future Everything) to be on the panel of judges.
The artist selected for a solo exhibition will then receive further funds as well as continued support from the gallery team to produce a body of work for a solo exhibition. The exhibition will run for three weeks in December 2019 and will be accompanied by a publication documenting the exhibition and the proposal from the three other participants, with commissioned texts from guest writers.
“hotel generation was great for me – it was the first time I’ve been able to work closely with a curator on a show, and have the support and budget to make an exhibition exactly as I wanted it. The show at arebyte was my first solo exhibition in London and arebyte were a great gallery to work with!”
— Karanjit Panesar, hotel generation 2018 final selected artist
