Andy Gracie

"My artistic practice is characterised by an in depth engagement with process, scientific methodologies and the nature of experiment. Here 'experiment' refers both to the act of acquiring knowledge and information through testing scenarios, and to the act of trying unknown or unexperienced processes.

For a long time my work was concerned with the information systems contained within living organisms and ecosystems and how they may be processed through technology with the aim of creating relationships and meanings. This work reflected on the ideas of umwelt and biosemiotics as developed by Jakob von Uexkull and Thomas Seboek in as much as it aimed to find how signs, symbols and signifiers may form the common ground between artificial and natural intelligences. The notion of important information and signifiers in organic perception has remained central to my research and projects even as it moves into new areas.

I am interested in using organic cultures as processing systems for artificially generated, or technology based, data in an effort to provoke behaviours that contain meaning. This interest extends to examining how organic and inorganic systems can be wired together through various channels, where communication and presence are realised by agency.

This process of investigation has led me to use a variety of approaches to robotics, artificial intelligence and biological practice. My research has led me through a diverse range of fields including microbiology, astrobiology, satellite and space exploration, wilderness exploration, hiking and mapping, as well as the majority of the more 'usual' digital art practices including coding, video and sound production.

The majority of my work is realised in the form of installation, often employing robotics, custom electronics, sound and video alongside biological practice and live organisms. In the recent years I have moved from working with larger organisms such as fish and insects through to smaller organisms such as bacteria and protozoa. More recently still, my work has led me to cultural analysis of the science of astrobiology and life science research in the space environment.

Increasingly I have been engaging directly with the realities of the relationship between the arts and the sciences, specifically how their differences can be exploited to generate moments of artistic value. While following rigorous scientific methodologies and maintaining a strong critical viewpoint my work is faithful to traditional artistic principles of metaphor, ambiguity and a strong sense of wonder." - Andy Gracie

2013, Yours Synthetically, Ars Electronica Centre, Linz, Austria
2013, Sin Origen Sin Semilla, UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico
2013, Space Odyssey 2.0, Z33, Hasselt, Belgium

2012, Soft Control, Slovenj Gradec / Maribor, Slovenia
2012, Arte Mov, Belo Horizonte, Brasil
2012, New Commissioned work, Xanadu_1, Vitenfabrikken, Sandnes, Norway
2012, Solo Exhibition, Proxy, Atelier Nord ANX, Oslo, Norway
2012 - 2012 2012, New commissioned work Deep Data Prototype 2: Arabidopsis opens at Sin Origen, Mexico City

2012, Deep Data Prototype _ 1 and Drosophila Titanus exhibited as part of Soft Control, Maribor, Slovenia

2012, Workshop with Media Ecologies, Krakow, Poland
2011 - 2011 2011, Republic of the Moon, FACT, Liverpool, UK
2011, Piksel, Bergen, Norway
2011, Microwave festival, Hong Kong
2011, Translife Biennial, Beijing, China
2011, Synth-Ethic, NHM, Vienna
2010 - 2010 2010, Meta.morf, Trondheim, Norway
2010, Solo exhibition (Proxy), Antiguo Instituto, Gijon, Spain
2010, Transbiotics, Riga, Latvia
2010, Abstract Machines, solo exhibition, El Hervidero, Gijon, Spain
2009 - 2009 2009, Solo exhibition (Deep Data Prototype 1), Kapelica gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2009, Arenas Movedizas, Gijon, Spain
2009, Enter4, Prague, Czech Republic
2008 - 2008 2008, Spectropia, Riga Art Space, Riga
2008, Solo exhibition of Autoinducer_ph-1, Kapelica gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2007 - 2007 Awards:
Vida9.0 – Honourable Mention for Autoinducer_Ph-1
Prix Ars Electronica 2007 – Honourable Mention for Autoinducer_Ph-1
2007 - 2007 2007, Taxonomies. COMAFOSCA, Alella, Spain
2007, Frankenstein's Monster, Mejan Labs, Stockholm, Sweden
2007, Cyber Arts, Ars Electronica, OK Centrum, Linz, Austria
2007, BIOS4, CAAC, Sevilla, Spain
2006 - 2006 2006, AV06 Festival, Northern Gallery of Contemporary Art, Sunderland, UK
2005 - 2007 Residencies:
April – July 2007, DRU, Huddersfield, UK
September 2005 - February 2006, COMAFOSCA, Alella, Barcelona
2004 - 2004 2004 – 2005, Organismos: esto es Vida, Espai Cultural, Barcelona, Spain
2004, Organismos: esto es Vida, La Casa Encendida, Madrid, Spain
2004, Radar, Centro Historico, Mexico City, Mexico
2003 - 2003 2003, Ultrasound, Huddersfield, UK
2003 – March 2004, Robots! Lille capital of Culture 2004, Lille, France
2003, Observatori, Valencia, Spain
2003, Artbots03, Eyebeam gallery, New York, USA
2003, Meanwhile, Castlefield gallery, Manchester, UK
2003, Ho
2002 - 2002 2002, ‘A’ Convention, Liverpool Biennial, Adelphi hotel, Liverpool, UK
2002, Performance Space, Sydney, Australia
2002, ISEA, Nagoya, Japan
2002, digitalsummer02, Castlefield Arena, Manchester, UK
2001 - 2001 2001, Sonic [Ex]change, Manchester Museum, Manchester, UK
2001, Project:[space], Bluecoat gallery, Liverpool, UK
1999 - 2012 Published Texts:
'Symbiotic Circuits' by Mitchell Whitelaw
‘Tightening the Loop’ FLAIRS-2005 conference proceedings - AAAI Press.
‘Observation, Interference and Evolutionary Relationships’ - Aminima magazine No.14
‘Artificial Knowingness as an
1999 - 2012 Audio and CDROM releases:
Ohz - A journal of advanced audio arts. CD-Rom – Irislight records (group project)
Totality G2V. CD-Rom – Irislight records (group project)
Physical Remix – Wow – Janeck Schaeffer – AudiOh

The 1999 installation ‘Posi
1997 - 2012 Teaching, Lectures and Workshops:
Since 1997 Andy Gracie has delivered a wide range of presentations and lectures about his work and related culture and contexts including Transmediale, Ars Electronica, AV06, Futuresonic, Dias de Bioarte, and many other i