Art & Technology #28: Quayola

Through ‘Sculpture Factory’, Quayola has introduced the rapidly-changing new technology into art; his works are fundamentally based on deep research on conventional sculpture. Influenced by the concept of “non finito (not finished)” proposed by Michelangelo, Quayola breaks down the boundaries between the genuine and the fake, the form and the content, the real and the artificial, and the old and the new, exploring into the tension between the pairs. In this work, a large industrial robot sculpts the ancient Greek masterpiece Laocoön and His Sons on the spot based on the data transmitted by the artist. The sculpture is instantly produced in the exhibition place, constantly varying and endlessly mutating. Though the robot does not complete the whole human figure, this kind of attempt enables discovering new materiality and expressions, opening up infinite possibilities. The process where the artist only comes up with an idea and sends the data to the robot to finish the work highlights the importance of an idea and a concept in art. This method used by Quayola to present classic paintings and sculptures is called “digital fabrication”, a process where 3D modeling software or computer-aided design (CAD) is used.

‘Captives’, in which the artist has immersed himself since 2013, is also a sculpture piece produced by the similar method. It is a modern adaptation of ‘Prigioni’, which was left unfinished on purpose by Michelangelo, where the tension lies between the mechanical perfection and the human creativity. In this series, the robot produces the work by using strategies and patterns according to a series of algorithms, which seem unusual in artworks. Through the intelligence of the machine and various possibilities it can demonstrate, the artist’s creative craftsmanship is expressed. This work was presented at the “PEACEMINUSONE” exhibition at the Seoul Museum of Art last year, in which the musician G-DRAGON participated as a curator. As the other work mentioned earlier, Quayola created the design, which was made into a sculpture by a robot. It was the first artwork introduced in Korea that was produced by the digital fabrication method using CAM software, and it drew a lot of attention.

Instead of holding onto one artistic form, Quayola employs various forms including motion graphics, photography, geometry, digitally-produced or time-based sculptures, software programming, immersive installation, and performances. He creates a new space where animation paintings and sculptures are combined, while also adopting audio-visual performances or drawing. In particular, he shows an astonishing collision between classic figures and modern abstracts through complex geometric structures created based on data. His originality and creativity is clearly presented in the series of his works, where the world’s famous classic artworks are studied and reinterpreted from a new perspective, with the conventional painting techniques and delicate brush strokes reinvented into geometric motion graphics. The artist even produced software for studying and analyzing high-resolution painting images, which shows his passion. These efforts turn the original classics and collections into a blank canvas.

Quayola is a London-based media artist who is active in the international scene. He has been recognized in major art institutions and events across Asia, Europe, and the Americas, including Korea’s Seoul Museum of Art, the Venice Biennale, Britain’s Victoria and Albert Museum and British Film Institute, New York’s Park Ave Armory, Brussels’ Bozar, Paris’ Palais de Tokyo, Barcelona’s MNAC, Tokyo’s National Art Center, Beijing’s UCCA, and Milan Triennale. He was awarded Prix Ars Electronica’s Golden Nica in 2013, drawing global attention again. He also collaborated with composers, orchestras, and musicians such as the London Contemporary Orchestra, the Ensemble InterContemporain, and the National Orchestra of Bordeaux in various musical projects.