WIP (Online exhibition)

arebyte Gallery

22 September - 13 October

[This is an online exhibition]

arebyte presents WIP, a online group exhibition by our 2021 hotel generation contestants Martin Disley (Edinburgh), Molly Erin McCarthy (Plymouth), Natasha Thembiso Ruwona (Glasgow) as part of arebyte’s 2022/23 programme Sci-Fi which looks at fictioning and alternative futures through a series of exhibitions, live performances, online experiences and educational activities.

WIP brings together the three participating artists from Hotel Generation 2021 to present work in the form of research, snippets and in-progress reflections assembled since the development programme finished in 2021. Visitors to the site are advised to zoom in and out to unearth the assets uploaded.

As a way of expanding existing relationships and tracking the artists’ continued development and research, the exhibition mimics forms of online mapping tools and more corporate approaches to creativity and progress via presentation and design. Through non-linear approaches to design and delivery of configuring elements of artistic practice, the exhibition becomes fluid in contextualising research, work-in-progress and notes as outcome. Utilising existing as well as reconstructed infrastructure and design from virtual whiteboard software, the exhibition brings together seemingly disparate items, tracing links between them and offering them up for critical exchange, conversation and discussion within the digital arena of collective and collaborative presentation.

Molly Erin McCarthy presents WIP and assets from Speculative Development(s) in Artificial Ruin(s), Natasha Thembiso Ruwona presents assets from in soil’s memory and Martin Disley presents research and assets for a WIP short film exploring investigative computing, machine learning and the voice in collaboration with Murad Khan.

Hotel Generation is arebyte’s yearly artist development programme which provides four young artists from UK cities with curatorial guidance to create an exhibition proposal for arebyte’s exhibition space in London. In addition to assistance with proposal writing, progressing ideas and budgeting, the programme offers industry support through creative software training, as well as marketing and fundraising workshops.hotel generation culminates in a fully funded solo show as part of arebyte Gallery programme for the winning candidate selected by a panel of judges. The other participants get the opportunity to develop an online work based on their exhibition proposal, shown as part of arebyte on Screen programme.This initiative aims to nurture a sense of place in the London art scene which can be notoriously difficult to infiltrate and creates new conversations between London and other UK cities.