Mutator 2 (Triptych), William Latham, Centrespace, VRC, 2014
Photo: Kathryn Rattray

I work between Goldsmiths College Computing Department, where I’ve been Professor of Computer Art since 2007, and my studio at my home in Hove.

Originally I trained as an artist at The Ruskin School of Drawing (Oxford University) and at the Royal College of Art, before moving into the computing industry and becoming a Research Fellow at The IBM UK Scientific Centre in Winchester in 1987. Between 1994 and 2003, I founded and led the leading games developer Computer Artworks Ltd who produced games such as The THING (Playstation2, Xbox and PC) for Universal Studios, which became a Number 1 hit in the UK and Germany.

Now, I am working with long-term collaborator, mathematician Stephen Todd again. During the past five years we have re-engineered and extended our original FormGrow and Mutator Code from the 80s and 90s to work on the newest platforms in installation pieces, videos and photographic works. These new works stem from my experiences working in Bioinformatics, Neuroscience and Games development.

While I studied at RCA I began to devise an evolutionary rule-based drawing system that would generate organic rather than geometric forms. I called the system FormSynth (short for Form Synthesis). This system uses transforms such as “Bulge”, “Beak”, “Stretch” and “Scoop,” which define how to distort or sculpt 3D forms starting from geometric primitives to evolve increasingly complex forms with each transform step recorded and laid out in large evolutionary tree drawings. Some of these early works are currently in the exhibition Mutator 2 in Centrespace, VRC.

Mutator 1 + 2 : Evolutionary Art exhibition by William Latham at iMAL – Center for Digital Cultures and Technology, 2013

It was at IBM that I started working with Stephen Todd and Peter Quarendon, who importantly had developed an excellent CSG Computer Solid Geometry Modelling System called WINSOM that handled the core 3D Rendering texturing and lighting necessary for early development of the Mutator Code. Starting with the original FormSynth rules from the RCA, we gradually started to adapt the rules to produce “Horn-like forms”, resembling twisted strange animal horns. As time went on, we extended the programming grammar, which we called FormGrow, to include new transforms such as “Bend”, “Twist”, “Stack”, “Branch”, “Ribcage” and “Web” and as this grammar grew more complex and rich the 3D forms generated became more and more natural looking.

This work became the early predecessor to Mutator2 Software which works with auto-aesthetic selection, meaning the viewer has the power to interact with the forms and determine visual outcomes based upon the wide ranging possibilities of the code.

William Latham: Mutator 2, Centrespace, VRC, 2014
Photo: Kathryn Rattray

I take inspiration from the natural world (including fungi, sea urchins, jelly fish, viruses, octopuses), sci-fi movies, paisley patterns, William Morris, heavy metal imagery, D’Arcy Thompson, and Surrealist Art (Dali, Magritte, Tanguy).

Initially my work at RCA was heavily influenced by Russian Constructivism, Pop Art and Process Art and by contact with artists such as Kenneth Martin, Mary Kelly and Eduardo Paolozzi, who became a mentor for many years. I still find these areas of interest relevant today.

Oriental Etching FormSynth, print, William Latham, 1985

Mutator 2 (Triptych), William Latham, Centrespace, VRC, 2014
Photo: Kathryn Rattray

My current Mutator 1 + 2 show will continue to tour the UK next year. To date, the exhibition has been exhibited in Phoenix Brighton, as part of Brighton Digital Arts Festival, and in iMAL Center For Digital Cultures in Brussels. Mutator 2 at Centrespace, Visual Research Centre in Dundee continues until 31 January 2015 and shows a subset of works from the larger touring show.

Next year I’ll be visiting Korea to explore venues for future exhibitions of my work.

It is great to be exhibiting my art regularly again, which I stopped doing whilst working in the games and music industries for about twelve years when I “disappeared off the radar”. Showing my work again also coincides with a wider public appreciation of digital art which up to this time arguably has had a hostile reception from the mainstream gallery/auction house world even though photography and video art have long been accepted as an art form, with computer art being labelled a craft at best. There would appear also to be a strong resurgence of interest in my work going back to the mid eighties including my drawings, which is pleasing.

Mutator 2 (Triptych), William Latham, Centrespace, VRC, 2014
Photo: Kathryn Rattray

I’ve recently launched a new website which catalogues my practice and work. The website was curated by The Phoenix Gallery Brighton, funded and supported by The Arts Council of England, and coincided with my solo show Mutator 1 + 2 at the Phoenix Gallery.

I co-curated Creative Machine, an exhibition at Goldsmiths in November, which was my first time acting as a curator. The vision for the Creative Machine exhibition was to show exciting works by artists who use original software and advanced technology in the creation of their work, often blurring the roles of the artist and machine in the creative process. It features international artists such as Naoko Tosa and Yoichiro Kawaguchi (Japan) Jon McCormack (Australia), Cécile Babiole (France) Félix Luque Sanchez (Belgium), Quayola (Italy) alongside leading artists from Goldsmiths and 2014 Lumen Prize gold and bronze award winners, Andy Lomas and Patrick Tresset and Memo Akten. (See it here)

My research projects include the BioBlox Protein Docking game with Imperial College Bioinformatics Dep, and I am co-Director of the company SoftV Ltd which is working with the UCl Neuroscience Department.

This video was originally posted on Art in Scotland TV, which is a contemporary arts-news site run by the Summerhall TV team.

Read more about Mutator 2 at Centrespace in this featured event.

More: Website

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My first foray into Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA) was straight into the bowels of the building, as we went down the stairs into the Visual Research Centre (VRC). The VRC is dedicated to practice-led research, and is home to research staff and doctoral students from the Schools of Design, Art & Media.

As a researcher by trade, I am fascinated by archives and research led spaces. It’s such a luxury to have time and space to sit and take in work, theories or products – in a quiet space and in a considered manner, rather than the throng of information that google offers up when carrying out a search. (And the folks at team Censta know what a web lover I am, so that’s a fairly strong comment coming from me!)

We visited 3 spaces at the VRC.

First the Rewind Micro Cinema. A collection of early artists videos, ranging from the 1960s to 1990s. Rewind has catalogued and preserved the works, which are now available to view in a dedicated room at VRC. A small white cinema, with space for 2 or 3 to cosily sit and enjoy an afternoon of secluded viewing. It felt almost like a white washed spanish villa inside, with white curtains and feeling like being cocooned in a serene space. I watched, or listened to one piece, Clapping Songs from Tina Keane (1979 so very much drawing me back to an age that would have me knowing these songs too). I needed to leave, as we had more to visit on our Dundee Popup tour, but would recommend a few hours spent in the VRC to anyone who enjoys immersing themselves in the work.

What also struck me about the VRC was the way in which Rewind has preserved the works. The practitioners who produced the videos have been interviewed to find out where the work was displayed, how it was installed – was it a TV installation, at a festival etc, so the original screening can be recreated.

The Rewind works do tour, but you can also book in time to go and view the videos at the DCA. Get in touch with the Duncan of Jordanstone folks, or visit theRewind site.

IMAGE 2

Photo Credit: Ross McLean

We also visited the Centre for Artist Books, and had a peek into a Phd installation about to be unveiled this week, but you’ll have to wait till my next installment to hear about those. As even an internet addict has to go offline sometimes!

Thanks very much to Laura Simpson for the tour and talk.

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To find out what Dundee Popup was all about or to read more reviews & blogs  from the day, click here.

Highlights of the day for me were hooking up with old friends and acquaintances, and of course meeting new people, putting names to faces and faces to names. I really enjoyed the studio visit hosted by Matthew Dalziel, it was great to hear about their current projects and I think it always helps to illuminate an artist’s practice when you hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. Makes it all the more real, and clearer as to the reasoning behind the work etc. Next up, a visit to Generator Projects and a slide talk with the current committee, who have recently been upgrading the building. Its good to see how they have been building and expanding on the reputation already achieved, punching above their weight as ever!

Managed to miss the preview tour of the McManus but caught the end of the Realtime Worlds Studio Tour, – interesting to see the set up but ultimately ‘not my bag’. Then on to the Visual Research Centre at DCA for a tour of the Centre for Artists’ Books and the Rewind Micro Cinema, the cutest cinema I ever did see, with seats that looked damn comfy after all the legwork of the previous few hours. On to “No Reflections” in the gallery, with Martin Boyce in conversation with Tricia Fleming. I didn’t make it to Venice so it was a good opportunity to see the work albeit in a very different context.

Finally to the Hannah McClure Centre for exhibition talks by Yann Seznec and Jon Gill of Superfly, talking about their work/projects and then “This Is..” with guest speakers from Yuck & Yum, Gen Ryan & Jo Swingler; Lyall Bruce & Johanna Basford; Arika; Colliderscope and Georgina Follett from the V& A Project. All in all giving an interesting and varied overview of things happening or about to happen in Dundee.

Its encouraging to see Dundee burgeoning with projects, opportunities and possibilities for the future, and that the arts and the creative industries are at the forefront of this change.

After all that a glass of vino and a chance to chat, was a well earned finale to a busy and thought provoking day.

Thanks to all the CenSta team for inviting me along, I really enjoyed seeing Dundee from this perspective.

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To find out what Dundee Popup was all about or to read more reviews & blogs  from the day, click here.