Royal College of Art
Kensington Gore (use entrance in Jay Mews)*
London
SW7 2EU
In this talk the pioneering artist
William
Latham will talk about his early work as an MA Printmaking student at
the RCA from 1982 to 1985 and how his work evolved during this period
into his internationally known Organic Computer Art developed whilst at
IBM UK Scientific Centre, where the role of the artist is to be a
“Gardener in computer space”.
The talk will describe the artistic context for this key
transitional phase and also the broader theoretical ideas surrounding
and underpinning his work. He will also identify key people during this
early period who were strong influences on his work. In the later part
of the talk he will talk about his more recent Mutator2 research work
developed as a Professor at Goldsmiths Computing Department since 2007.
During the talk he will also touch on his work in the computer games and
entertainment industries and the challenges of crossing the line
between art and entertainment.
William Latham Biography
William’s
work at The IBM UK Scientific Centre from 1987 to 93 is internationally
known and recognised as being both pioneering and radical. Working with
mathematician Stephen Todd, they developed a unique computer mutation
art where the role of the artist is to define fundamental evolutionary
rules about the way forms would grow and mutate then to work like a
gardener working within the system exploring the vast space of
imaginative possibilities in computer space.
From 1993 to 2003
William moved into
Computer Games and founded Computer Artworks Ltd creating computer games
for major publishers such as Warner Interactive, Universal Studios,
SONY SCEE and several other leading publishers and grew the company to
70 people with development studios in London and Brighton. Major hit
games produced during that period included The THING for Universal
Studios. In 2003 He founded the company Games Audit Ltd which advises
banks, investors and completion bonders on computer games and
interactive entertainment.
In 2007 he became Professor in Computer Art at Goldsmiths,
University of London, collaborating with Professor Frederic Fol
Leymarie, and working again with Stephen Todd and his son Peter after a
gap of 13 years. Recent work has included re-applying the old FormGrow
and Mutator systems rewritten in Java in the world of protein folding
and scientific visualisation working with Lawrence Kelly at Imperial
College Bioinformatics Department and other experimental new art
projects.
www.williamlatham1.comwww.doc.gold.ac.uk/~mas01whl/