Gilles de Brock (2017)

Antony Gormley's Exposure was built from existing steel elements belonging to utility poles. The construction was complex and needed to be drawn and calculated thoroughly by special computer models. To Gilles de Brock, this Land Art project symbolizes the transfer from old networks (electricity) to new, digital networks. Since the realization of the artwork in 2010, numerous developments have taken place: think about the rise of social media, data mining, the Internet of things, and the announced arrival of artificial intelligence.

The intervention at Exposure by Antony Gormley in Lelystad took place from 3 September 2017 until 7 January 2018

To Gilles de Brock, the computer is an essential tool to create his work. But he does give away more power over his work than many other artists - which raises the question if (and when) computers can create art. For example, De Brock writes computer programs that calculate all varieties of several choices of images and colors, from which the artist himself selects the best samples for his silk-screen prints. He allows a computer to enter a process that is embalmed with human mystique and sensitivity: the creativity, the artistry.

For his intervention for Land Art Live, he applied this technique to another medium: film. Algorithms within an especially built supercomputer selected and played film scenes. This film had an unlimited run time, no storyline - it played continually and varied every time. The algorithms also selected the music that was generated to accompany the images. For four months, the film could be watched on a smartphone at the Strekdam where Exposure is located. It was a digital addition to the analogue, physical and environmental experience of the artwork.

Find out more about Gilles de Brock on Instagram