Roy Ascott

This collection of artwork – constructions, cut-outs, paintings, prints,  drawings, and the archive of papers, publications, conference presentations and videos, provides a comprehensive overview of Roy Ascott’s work since the late 1950’s, when he completed his studies under the tutelage of Victor Pasmore and Richard Hamilton.

His first one-man show in London 1963 drew attention to the Change-paintings, which heralded interaction as the principal feature of his subsequent work. It was with interactive online projects, initially La Plissure du Texte at MOMA, Paris, and then the Venice Biennale and in various parts of  North and South America, Europe and the Far East (most notably the 2012 Shanghai Biennale) that led to his award of the Prix Ars Electronica Golden Nika Visionary Pioneer of Media Art. His analogue work is well represented in the collections of Tate Britain, The Arts Council, and various provincial museums. As a theorist, he is widely published and has convened major conferences, most notably in the context of the Planetary Collegium, a doctoral research programme he established at Plymouth University (with some 70 PhDs awarded). His books are published in English, Chinese and Korean and secure his standing as a principal art and technology theorist.

With his Groundcourse at Ealing College of Art in the 1960s, and in China since 2012 with his Technoetic Arts studio in the DeTao Academy of the Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts. Ascott’s international reputation as an educational innovator is well recognised.