Digital Art Fair

For this year’s edition of Digital Art Fair Hong Kong, Unit London is proud to showcase the work of five genre-defining digital artists: Linda Dounia, LoVid, Alida Sun, Melissa Wiederrecht and Che-Yu Wu.

Delving into the complexities of time, memory and nostalgia, each artist presents a work, or series of works, carefully crafted through generative processes. In these complex, often deeply personal pieces, time is explored as a medium – a medium of discovery, embodiment and scale. Spanning both intimate, subjective moments and grand global narratives, these works bridge the gap between the viewer and the vast expanse of time and space, inspiring a deeper sense of connection between ourselves, digital artworks and the natural world that surrounds us.

Digital Art Fair Hong Kong is held at 6F, Kunsthalle, K11 Art & Cultural Centre, K11 MUSEA and runs from 19 to 23 October 2023.

Find us at booth 21, in the Prestige Zone.

Generative art is a medium closely tied to notions of time. Defined by its relationship to randomness and chance, the interval between generative coding and its output marks a passage of becoming for the work. In these formative moments, generative art carves out time for potential, and with this potential arrives the utopian hope of multiple possible futures. These futures provide a site for change and resistance.

In Alida Sun’s Synesthesia, notions of embodied time are explored through a measurement of the artist’s somatic data, which is captured through infrared tracking and transformed into geometric sound structures. This audiovisual captures moments in the history of the body, transforming them into divergent sensory experiences, and producing a subversive, nonlinear experience of time for the body through play and sound.

Similarly, LoVid’s Stream Processing explores personal histories through a techno-nostalgic tapestry of analogue, digital and handmade visual materials. The hybridity of this work provides connections between fragmented moments in time, as the histories of ancient mediums such as tapestry merge with those of new technology, all whilst embodying personal moments of creation for the artists.

Linda Dounia’s series Boulevard LSS explores the rapid urbanisation of the artist’s hometown, Mbour. Dounia gathered cartographic references from the town, beginning with early colonial maps. Tracking how these maps have changed through periods of historical and societal change, Dounia has created new and imagined fictional maps, using GAN technology, exploring topographical futures for the region.

Exploring macrocosmic explorations of ecological time, Melissa Wiederrecht’s work evokes a distinct sense of becoming, as colours swirl and begin to form a nascent universe. The abstract, twirling strokes of bold colour in Cosmic Vortex make the activity depicted indefinite and intangible, as chaos and order come together in unknown proportions. As we witness this cosmic genesis, we are drawn into a comprehension of time that surpasses human subjectivity.

Similarly, Che-Yu Wu’s Ecological Fusion series utilises cellular and communication simulations to form otherworldly reimaginings of the passage of time. Wu’s works evoke undulating hills, oceanic swells and radiating light wave formations. Here, the grand narratives of technological time and ecological time become one. The sweeping ecological stories of our era become tangible, as iterative motifs appear illustrated through ink-like line strokes, embodying an unfolding story caught in the liquidity of passing time.

Reflecting key moments from our curatorial programme, this presentation embodies Unit London’s commitment to elevating both established and emerging figures in contemporary digital and new media art.

Linda Dounia is a Senegalese-Lebanese artist, designer and curator currently based in Dakar. Interested in examining the intricate interplay between tangible and intangible structures through her expansive creative practice, she encompasses mediums like acrylic, ink, pastels, vector, video, GANs, and more recently, Javascript, including languages like p5.js – that often fuse harmoniously to craft her unique expressions. In 2022 she released ‘Spannungsbogen’, the first expansive AI collection by an African woman. This groundbreaking release reflected on the biases ingrained in facial recognition technology and the dearth of non-Western perspectives within the realm of AI-generated art, echoing her interest in technology’s impact on modern society. Her work has been exhibited at renowned venues including Christie’s, Unit London, Art X Lagos, Partcours, Art Basel Miami, The Dakar Biennale, Artsy NFT, Digital Art Fair Asia, and Art Dubai. 

LoVid is a New York-based interdisciplinary artist duo who have worked collaboratively since 2001. Their practice focuses on relationships between home-made analog synthesisers, hand-cranked code, and tangible materials; their videos, textile works, performances, net-art, installations, and NFTs have been exhibited worldwide for over two decades. Their works can be found in the collections of the Whitney Museum, The Parrish Museum, Thoma Foundation, Watermill Center, Butler Institute of American Art, Heckscher Museum, 6529 Museum, NFT Museum of Digital Art, The LAL ART Collection, Museum of Nordic Digital Art, among many others.

Alida Sun is a multidisciplinary artist based in Berlin. Her practice integrates presence, resistance and the nature of adaptation in the age of algorithms. Every day for over 1500 days and counting she has coded and built new generative art works spanning mediums including installation, sound, architecture, choreography, drawing and light. Sun is the creator of Art Blocks Curated project glitch crystal monsters. Her work has been exhibited at the Venice Biennale Decentralised Pavilion, Ars Electronica, UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Seattle NFT Museum, and experimental audiovisual festivals around the world.

Melissa Wiederrecht is a digital artist based in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. With Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science from the University of Wyoming, her art fuses technology with timeless concepts, creating abstract compositions that transcend boundaries. Active in the Generative Art movement, she shares code-based creations on the blockchain, celebrating the interplay of diverse cultures. Wiederrecht’s digital artworks have graced leading platforms since May 2022, and her global exhibitions include shows at Verse, Feral File, and more. Her work resides in prestigious collections and has earned recognition in Forbes and Fortune, solidifying her status as a visionary artist.

Che-Yu Wu is a new media artist, designer, engineer and entrepreneur from Taiwan. He has dropped on fx(hash) and Art Blocks, and is included in major digital art collections such as GlimmerDAO. He also builds immersive experiences, combining his visual design skills with VR/AR to powerfully juxtapose elements of the digital with the physical. After completing his Master’s Degree in Integrated Media from New York University, he founded Monoame Design and has worked with Taipei City Government, National Palace Museum, Nissan and White Castle, among many others to provide dynamic experience applications and solutions. He is also notable for his Hahow online courses which have inspired tens of thousands of students to pursue creative coding and new media art.