Siggraph 04

Gollifer’s ongoing research conducted over the past fifteen years explores the developing medium of digital printmaking and its evolution through technological transformations that have blurred and reconfigured the interface between analogue and digital forms of production and subsequently the conceptual nature of the work. Gollifer has played a leading role in the debate about digital arts both through her own practice as a printmaker and the curation of a series of international touring exhibitions, ArCade I-V, (Outputs 2 and 4) and GAMUT I-II. Following a formal selection process the Association for Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group on Graphics and Interactive Techniques (ACM SIGGRAPH), Gollifer was appointed as the Art Gallery Chair for SIGGRAPH 2004. Gollifer was the first European to hold this position. Her chosen theme for the Art Gallery was Synaesthesia and her research aim was to explore, through curation, the increasing capacity of digital work to critically and technically develop interconnections between the senses including the haptic alongside the visual and the aural. This shift within digital environments in the context of the 21st century echoes the technological transformations of 19th century art, architectural, design and musical (particularly operatic) practices. Gollifer brought together a significant body of new work that sought to enable its audience to re-examine through printmaking their physical engagement with contemporary technologies. This included new works of art emerging from the conjunction of cybernetics and human vision. Over a thousand pieces of work in a variety of fields (including 2D, 3D and screen-based work and art animation) from across the world were submitted online and underwent a rigorous review process chaired by Gollifer. The annual SIGGRAPH Art Gallery has achieved worldwide recognition for excellence in showing digital and electronic art. Gollifer also chaired the 2004 selection panels for associated published critical essays and artists’ talks.