Art by Committee - Online art project

Nov. 11, 2009 - PRLog -- Press Release

Art by Committee
Online art project

Artist Patrick Murphy has launched a new, interactive online art project. ‘Art by Committee’ is an experiment in the use of the internet and social media networking as a device for directing a participatory art project.

Everyone is invited to visit the website www.artbycommittee.co.uk and cast a series of 10 votes that will influence the production of an original artwork in early 2010. Murphy states ‘I want as many people as possible to participate in the project, and help to decide the colour, shape, material and location of the finished piece of work.’

The polls will close on 7 March 2010, when Murphy will start producing the final piece using the most popular choices from the 10 online polls to direct the final work. The most popular results are visible immediately after votes have been registered.

The project utilises existing online social network sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blogs, the artist will make regular online updates on how the project is developing, providing a unique experience between artist and participant. Patrick added ‘People can choose to follow the project via their existing Facebook and Twitter accounts, plus I will be keeping a blog updated with sketches and ideas that I have in reaction to weekly poll results’.

After a week of voting the most popular choices are:
Colour – Pink; Size – 8ft x 8ft; Material – Water, but this is changing all of the time.

The work explores the phenomenon of social engagement through new media sites such as Twitter and Facebook and the perceived freedom to choose, or vote, in popular programmes such as Big Brother and X Factor. Murphy says ‘As an artist I am excited by the process and opportunity given by the internet to this project I feel it raises interesting questions concerning public engagement with art and media in the 21st century. Whilst I have created the criteria concerning aspects of the project, the final piece will be informed solely by the public’s choices’.

Visit www.artbycommittee.co.uk

Notes to Editors
Further Information

About the Project

The project is influenced by the principles set out by Marcel Duchamp
who, in 1917, created ‘Fountain’ (a urinal positioned 90 degrees from
its normal position of use) which became a major landmark in 20th
century art. Duchamp envisaged ‘Fountain’ – a ready-made object - as
the product of an aesthetically provocative act, one that denied the
importance of taste and which questioned the meaning of art itself.
According to Duchamp, the artist’s CHOICE of a ready-made should be
governed not by the beauty of the object but by his indifference
towards it; to these ends it could be selected by CHANCE methods, for
example by a predetermined weight or at a predetermined time.

About Artist

Patrick Murphy works as an artist & independent curator and is based
in South Yorkshire. UK

His work is interdisciplinary, using a diverse range of media, skills
and techniques. Much of his work is concerned with creating a dialogue
with our surroundings and each other. Using familiar objects and
themes he depicts the world around us, altering the original context
of subjects so they appear simultaneously both familiar and
unfamiliar, encouraging or stimulating a sense of questioning from the
viewer. He is also a curator and has been instrumental in the
development of HIVE contemporary art gallery in his home town of
Barnsley, South Yorkshire. His curatorial practice is concerned with
the ways that artists connect with and influence society using art as
a catalyst.

For more information visit
www.patrickmurphystudio.co.uk
www.hivegallery.co.uk
www.axisweb.org/seCVPG.aspx?ARTISTID=11908

Contact

Patrick Murphy
Email: info@patrickmurphystudio.co.uk

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About Artist

Patrick Murphy works as an artist & independent curator and is based
in South Yorkshire. UK

His work is interdisciplinary, using a diverse range of media, skills
and techniques. Much of his work is concerned with creating a dialogue
with our surroundings and each other. Using familiar objects and
themes he depicts the world around us, altering the original context
of subjects so they appear simultaneously both familiar and
unfamiliar, encouraging or stimulating a sense of questioning from the
viewer. He is also a curator and has been instrumental in the
development of HIVE contemporary art gallery in his home town of
Barnsley, South Yorkshire. His curatorial practice is concerned with
the ways that artists connect with and influence society using art as
a catalyst.

For more information visit
www.patrickmurphystudio.co.uk
www.hivegallery.co.uk
www.axisweb.org/seCVPG.aspx?ARTISTID=11908

Contact
Patrick Murphy
Email: info@patrickmurphystudio.co.uk