Serdar Yasar: “We designed Piksel to help artists understand digital technology and incorporate it into their workflow.”
Esin Hamamcı, one of the editors of NFTIFY, talked to Project Coordinator Serdar Yaşar about O’art New Media and “Soft Discipline”, a group exhibition of the platform’s Artist Residency Programme graduates.
A training, support and community-building programme designed to introduce young artists and aspiring artists from all fields of plastic arts to the genres, production methods, technologies and ways of thinking behind digital skills, and ultimately to help them understand and incorporate digital technology into their workflow. “Soft Discipline”, a group exhibition by graduates of the platform’s Artist-in-Residence Programme, opens a space for new artists. We talked to Project Coordinator Serdar Yaşar about the show.
Pixel It brings together all the components of the art world of New Media. In this respect, it also follows the digital, the new and new artists. What was the motivation behind the start-up story?
The motivation for the establishment of +Pixel. in a nutshell, it was to open a door, especially for young artists who want to develop themselves in the new media field in addition to the conventional art education prevailing in Turkey. Designed to help artists understand and incorporate digital technology into their workflow, Piksel. It is an education and community-building programme.
Although our target audience seems to include only people who produce art, this was partially the case when we first started with the new phases of Piksel. we will continue to keep our main focus here. On the other hand, we will not only focus on people who are interested in art production but also on people who are interested in 3D design, game design and development, real-time/interactive visual shows, etc. Today, the Piksel. The community is significant with the foremost programme artists and participants in our other programmes (Piksel. Masterclass, etc.), and it continues to grow. I can say that we are pretty satisfied with the progress of the whole project.
What awaits us in this medium? What are your ongoing programmes and new projects?
Several different programmes are currently welcoming enthusiasts at +Pixel. In addition to our artist-in-residence programme in the first year of the project’s establishment, where we only included participants interested in art practice, in the following years, we also launched the “Piksel.Masterclass”, which has a different target audience in terms of education/mentorship. All programmes of Piksel. can be briefly summarised as follows:
Main Programme: In the main programme, which we also refer to as the residency programme, we start each year with an open call for artists. Artists who meet the criteria we set in the open call go through a rigorous evaluation process, which is completed with the selection of 10 artists.
The artists selected for the main programme, which lasts approximately 4–5 months, come together weekly in mentor sessions with new media artists who have made a name for themselves in Turkey and the world. In addition to these mentor sessions, we provide scholarship support for one year to contribute to the artists’ production process. In addition, as we aim for the main programme participants to develop a global network, we send two artists to other residency programmes in the USA or Europe with the support of Piksel through a separate evaluation process.
In the end-of-term exhibition held at the end of the 4–5 month period, the artists are part of a work production process in which they can apply what they have learned throughout the programme. The Soft Discipline exhibition is also a product of the artists of the 22–23 period.
Finally, our artists in the main programme can benefit unconditionally from all other projects of Piksel.
Masterclass: This sub-programme emerged after the first year of Piksel. This resulted from the feedback we constantly received after the first year of Piksel.: “There should be software-oriented technical training in the project.”, which is related to the fact that we care about the ideas in our community. Our biggest goal at Piksel. It is to provide maximum benefit to our participants.
In the Masterclass, we focus on teaching the most used software and tools in 3D design and digital media rather than an art-oriented practice. Our main training topics are Unreal Engine, TouchDesigner, Houdini, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Photoshop, and Creative Coding.
In the Masterclass, whose selection criteria differ from the main programme, participants receive four days and 24 hours of intensive technical training under the leadership of our expert trainers for each training title. There is no dismissal after the end of the movement, and we support the participants to participate in various projects.
Piksel.Talks: I mentioned that one of our core values is to create a community. Piksel.Talks is a talk programme designed by guest moderators in line with this ideal. Here, our Piksel. participants can meet and chat with guests, from artists working in different fields to gallery and museum directors, curators, and international artist residency programme managers.
Piksel.Bulletin: Piksel.Bulletin is a monthly publication, and here we have a guest from the art world whose vision and view on life and art we are curious about. In addition to the questions we ask them about their field, you can also find their book, publication recommendation, and the playlist they listen to the most that month while working or privately in the bulletin content. Thanks to our newsletter publication, our followers can read the ideas and suggestions of the people they are interested in and review the current developments in Piksel.
Pixel New Media’s new exhibition, “Soft Discipline”, has opened. What does the collection say to its viewers?
+ Soft Discipline is a group exhibition combining traditional art techniques with digital art. Under the collective curatorship of Ekmel Ertan and the participating artists, the works of the artists who coded the power of technology to change this world as ‘disciplining the object’ are, of course, in a relationship. Still, each of them produced their works with very different techniques. Therefore, our visitors encounter different combinations of digital production in the exhibition.
For the intellectual background of the exhibition, I would like to quote from our curator, Ekmel Ertan: “Soft Discipline deals precisely with the way technology, especially digital technologies, bring us into their discipline with our consent. It questions how our bodies, minds and social existence are transformed by technology.”
“Soft Discipline” is waiting for its visitors at Alan Kadıköy until 6 October. However, it can be experienced as VR after this date. We have resorted to such a way as we aim to maximise the accessibility of the exhibition.
ESİN HAMAMCIOĞLU
NFTIFY
This interview was first published in nftify.com.tr in Turkish. The interview was later translated from original to English, and minor changes were made during the translation.
Original Article: https://nftify.com.tr/serdar-yasar-sanatcilarin-dijital-teknolojiyi-anlamalarina-ve-is-akislarina-dahil-etmelerine-yardim-etmek-icin-piksel-i-tasarladik/
