Past Residents
Past Resident2017: Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar
Rhys Himsworth
As an artist working at the junction of analogue and digital media, Rhys Himsworth’s paintings, prints, photographs and multimedia installations attempt to form a discourse around issues of surveillance, mimesis, simulacrum and authorship. He mixes natural elements with the machine to create hybrids and attempts to articulate virtual media though translating its information into physical manifestations. This often takes place through installations that are physical, but have a generative component through their use of network-based media. Information from these sources is then used to generate a physical outcome whereby the viewer is confronted with, and often part of, a complex informational experience.
Rhys Himsworth received his BA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins and his MA in Printmaking from the Royal College of Art, London. He has exhibited in Europe, North America and the Middle East including solo shows at Reynolds Gallery, Richmond, Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar. He also took part in the International Contemporary Art Biennial, Locws International, Swansea, United Kingdom; India Art Fair, New Delhi; and the CICA Museum, Gimpo, South Korea. Himsworth has been a visiting lecturer at Central Saint Martins and University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom; University of São Paulo Brazil; and Art Institute of Chicago.
Rhys Himsworth, Civilization, 2013, turntables, stepper motors, micro-controllers, processing code, and wikipedia, 59 × 39 × 27 in. (149.86 × 99.06 × 68.58 cm)
Rhys Himsworth, Present Continuous Past, 2013, webcam, processing code, LCD screen, 25 × 23 in. (63.5 × 58.42 cm)
Rhys Himsworth, Entropy, 2011, LED boards, audio speakers, micro-controller, processing code, wikepedia, 196 × 236 × 70 in. (497.84 × 599.44 × 177.8 cm)
Rhys Himsworth, The World Within Itself, 2010, Aluminum cage, society finches, drawing machine, micro controller, web cam, pen, paper, 78 × 78 in. (198.12 × 198.12 cm)
Rhys Himsworth, New Life, 2008, cardiograph, laptop, computer program, paper, website- mydeathspace.com, 59 × 78 × 19 in. (149.86 × 198.12 × 48.26 cm)
Past Resident2017: KdFS Kulturstiftung des Freistaates Sachsen
Elli Kuruş
Elli Kuruş critically examines the development of media and technology, reading the present as material history. Her artistic and curatorial practice converge into installations, videos, drawings, and lecture performances. In her ongoing project History of Political Operating Systems, she examines the relationship between blockchain technology, ideas of utopia, and the organization of political life.
Elli Kuruş is a Leipzig-based collective artist. Her most recent solo exhibition Invisible Hand, The Great Book of … was held at Galerie Miroslav Kraljević, Zagreb, Croatia, 2016. She has shown work in several spaces in Leipzig, Berlin, Basel, and Los Angeles. A chapter of her work on the blockchain will be part of the upcoming book Artists Re:Thinking the Blockchain published by Furtherfield and Torque.
Elli Kuruş, White Balance Mechanism (detail), 2016, Serving cart, two-dollar bill, polymer clay, ethernet cables, deflection pulleys, Californian red wine, and video, Dimensions variable
Elli Kuruş, History of Political Operating Systems 304, 2016, 3 videos on flat screens, headphones, polymer clay sculptures, fully automated coffee machine, labels. plastic cups, carpet, floor screed, media player, and cables, Dimensions variable
Elli Kuruş, White Balance Mechanism & Prototype, 2016, Serving cart, two-dollar bill, polymer clay, ethernet cables, deflection pulleys, Californian red wine, and video, Dimensions variable
Elli Kuruş, History of the coloured people (excerpt), 2016, Artist‘s book, nail extensions, plastiform, and hanging file folder frame, 14 × 121/2 × 121/2 in. (35.56 × 31.75 × 31.75 cm)
Residents from Germany
Past Resident2017: Dedalus Foundation
Betty Yu
Betty Yu is an interdisciplinary artist who uses multimedia platforms to tell the stories of marginalized, underrepresented and underserved people. Her creative work is influenced by her direct experience as a daughter raised by immigrant garment worker parents. In her artwork, Yu approaches social issues through personal stories, family narrative and community history. Her work has explored issues ranging from labor rights, immigrant justice, militarism and housing equity. In the past several years, Yu’s art projects and installations have allowed her to engage with directly impacted communities through onsite installations, projections, participatory workshops and media production.
Betty Yu is an interdisciplinary artist, filmmaker, educator and activist. She co-founded the Chinatown Art Brigade, a cultural collective telling anti-gentrification stories of Chinatown tenants through public projections. She holds a BFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and a MFA in Integrated Media Arts from Hunter College. Yu’s multi-media installation, The Garment Worker was featured at Tribeca Film Institute’s Interactive. She co-created Monument to Anti-Displacement Organizing, which was on view at the Agitprop! group show at Brooklyn Museum. Yu is a 2016 A Blade of Grass Fellow for Socially Engaged Art and received the 2016 SOAPBOX Artist Award from the Laundromat Project. She has received funding for her projects from foundations including the Paul Robeson Fund, Brooklyn Arts Council, and Art Matters.
Events & Exhibitions
Spring Open Studios 2017
April 21–April 22, 2017
Betty Yu, Here to Stay, 2016, Projection, 80 × 30 in. (203.2 × 76.2 cm)
Betty Yu, Here to Stay, 2016, Mixed media, Dimensions variable
Betty Yu, The Garment Worker, 2014, Interactive media installation, 20 × 30 × 16 in. (50.8 × 76.2 × 40.64 cm)
Betty Yu, Letter from Wei Xui Qing, 2015, Experimental collage short film based on memories and letter from a 16-year old Chinese garment worker Wei Xui Qing, 9:25 min
