Trevor Batten:

• (artistic statement)
• (biographical notes)
• (activities 1990-2004)
• (previous activities)
• (web search)
  

(artistic statement)

(biographical notes)

• Born 16.5.45 Hillingdon, England.
• Studied at Loughborough, Exeter and Brighton Colleges of Art specializing in sculpture (Exeter, 1964/67) and printmaking (Brighton, 1968).
• Part-time lecturer at art colleges in Brighton (3-d studies, 1968) and Sunderland (printmaking, 1970/71). 
• Produced first computer generated graphic image with the help of a friendly mathematician in 1967 while studying at Exeter College of Art.
• The lack of facilities in those early days lead to a move to the Institute for Sonology, University of Utrecht(1972) in an attempt to learn more about the creative use of the computer -and to explore the potential visual implications and applications of the Sonological (electronic-musicological) concepts then current at the institute.
• Under the mentorship of the Swiss composer Werner Kaegi, these Sonological studies eventually lead to the multi-disciplinary "Cross Media Mapping"  research project -initially involving attempts to translate sound structures into visual (video) images.
• Started theorizing.
• Fell in love with the analogue studio, but was forced back to the computer due to a lack of financing required to build the necessary image synthesizer.
• Subsequently rejected sound as an unnecessary complication and concentrated on exploring the consequences of mapping sets of (binary) data into different graphic representation systems.
• Also experimented with (abstract) computer generated plotter images derived from the previous experiences with visual translation and interpretation processes.
• This work continued until the Institute moved to the Conservatory in the Hague
• Differences between the musical tradition and the visual art tradition (which was increasingly rejecting formal systems as the computer developed into a consumer product requiring virtually no technical knowledge) made "rehabilitation" in the "outside" world of visual art extremely difficult.
• Wasted many years wrestling with Dutch pragmatism, looking for money in order to continunue working and trying to propagate (conceptual) computer art.
• In 1987 the purchase of an Amiga computer financed by half a Work-grant from the Dutch Ministry of Culture enabled work to begin with dynamic visual image generation processes.
• In 1993 a tentative begin was made to reintroduce sound in relation to the visual images on the Amiga.
• Started teaching Media Art at the AKI school of Fine Art in Enschede (somewhere near the Dutch/German border) from 1 April 1988 until 1 May 1999.
• After leaving, tried to concentrate on produduction of personal work but the problems of presentating work on an Amiga -due to the lack of commercial success of the system -forced a migration to the more commonly available (open source) Linux/Java combination.
• The first stand-alone Java applications were produced in May 2002.
• Further development lead to the appearance of the first applets in 2003 and their publication via a new suplimentary website established August 2004.
• Now slightly infamous in some circles.
• Lives in Amsterdam, but enjoys travelling, and is thinking of relocating.
• Has attended a number of international conferences on computer art (education) and is interested in international collaboration regarding the theory and practice of digital Media Art and the cultural implications of the once new, but now somewhat old, media

(activities 1990-2004)

• Computer images published by:

  • Deutches Bundesbahn (Ice Galerie, Frankfurt am Main,june 1990)
  • Commodore GmbH, (Promotion ORGATECH,Cologne,November 1990)
  • Commodore GmbH, (Promotion CEBIT,Hannover,March 1991)
  • Bau und Bodem Bank, (Annual Report,Frankfurt am Main, 1992)



• Article "Computer, Kitsch und Moden" (translation) Published in "Computer Art Faszination", Dr. Dotzler Medien-Institut Computer Art, Frankfurt am Main, 1991


• Participant "Schau mir in die Augen" Videobeelden voor Kassel Documenta Archiv, Kassel, 28 june - 6 july 1991


• Participant Computergraphik Werk-Stadt, Art Gallery IMPRINTA 92, Dusseldorf, 19 - 25 feb 1992


• Speaker: "Rational Creativity? -Aesthetic experiences in the medium" Symposium III -Computer Graphics and Advertizing: A duo in Harmony, IMPRINTA 92, Dusseldorf, 24 Feb. 1992


• Participant telecommunication project "Telecosmos", Expo America '92, National Telecommunication Commission, Buenos Aires, 12 Oct. - 28 Dec 1992


• Work Included in

  • SISEA (Groningen 1990)
  • TISEA (Sydney 1992)
  •  ISEA (Helsinki 1994)
  •  ISEA (Montreal 1995)



• Participation International Fax projects in

  • Edinburgh (1993),
  • Glasgow (1994),
  • McMinnville USA (1994),
  • Sydney (1994),
  • McMinnville USA (1996)



• Participant Festival "Nova Telesnost" (New Bodies), MKC Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia, 24 - 31 Aug. 1996


• Participant reaction project "MendelSom" Kunst-Ruimte, Kampen NL, Jan. 1997


• Participant "Performance Box Project" Antartica Celebration Party, Cultuurwerkplaats, Eindhoven NL, 29 June 1997


• Participant International Festival of New Film and Video Split, Croatia, 6 - 12 October 1997


• Participant Festival New Electronic Art, MKC Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia, 10 - 15 May 1998


• Article "So What is Media Art?" Published in "Computer Art Faszination", Dr. Dotzler Medien-Institut Computer Art, Frankfurt am Main, 1998


• Participant 12 Stuttgarter Filmwinter, Stuttgart, Germany, 14 - 17 Jan 1999


• Article "Media Art -Ten Years Later" A follow-up, published in "Inter-Actief" (Jubilee Edition -January 1999), Computer Science Student Journal, Twente University, The Netherlands.


• Participant COMTECart '99, Dresden, Germany, 11-28 Nov. 1999


• Speaker "Some Personal Remarks regarding Independance/Autonomy" Independant Art School Conference, Hull Time Based Arts, Hull, England, 19-20 Oct. 2000


• Speaker "Some Personal Remarks on Algorithms and Icons" Electrohype 2000, Malmo, Sweden, 27-29 Oct 2000


• Paper "Some Personal Remarks on the Creative Potential of Space (Towards an Einsteinian Turing Machine)" accepted for CIRCUS conference Glasgow University 20-22 September 2001 (not presented personally for financial reasons)


• Visiting lecturer, AKI School of Fine Art, Enschede, NL (14, 21 Feb and 7 March 2002)


• "Millifiori" presented in Media Teche programme as part of Electrofringe 2002 Festival, October 2-7, Newcastle, Australia


• Collaborated with Fatima Lasay in "Sound Archeology Workshop" Ecole Cantonale d'Art du Valeis, Sierre, Switzerland (March 26, 1, 2 April 2004)

• Participant "Readme, Runme Dorkbot Citycamp  and Conference 2004" Aarhus, Denmark (August 22-28)
  

(previous activities)

• Bradford Print Biennale, Bradford, England 1972
• Group Exhibition "Digitale Beelden" Bonnefantenmuseum Maastricht 4 may - 1 June 1986
• Group Exhibition: Galerie/Atelier E Zurich, Zwitzerland 22 jan - 21 mar 1987
• Participant "Synthesis: Visual Arts in the Electronic Culture" International UNESCO seminar, Offenbach/Main FDR, 6 - 11 dec. 1987
• Part-time Lecturer in digital media, AKI, Enschede, 1988-99
• Participant international conference "Technoculture in Europe", Art+Com, Council of Europe and Werkstatt Berlin, Berlin 4 - 6 nov.1988
• Group exhibition "Art and Computers" (organized by Cleveland Arts, GB) Touring Aberdeen, Bradford, Glasgow & Stornoway, Feb. 1989 - jan 1990
• Participant "International Seminar on the Training of Creators in New Technologies" UNESCO/University of Quebec in Montreal, Montreal, Canada 12 - 16 June 1989
• Participant International Workshop "New Media- Visual Education in Electronic Culture" Polish Association of Art Education and Wroclaw State High School of Arts, Polanica Zdroj, Poland 3 - 10 Sept. 1989
• Participant international conference "Technoculture en Europe" Council of Europe and CETECH, Paris 17 - 18 nov.1989