Congratulations to Marco Barotti who wins $25,000 dotated NTU Singapore Global Digital Art Prize, beating over 440 other entries. The biennial international competition is designed to recognise outstanding creativity in art, design and cultural heritage that makes significant use of digital tools in its creation. The theme for the inaugural edition of the Prize is The Fourth Industrial Revolution. It aims to highlight the impact of technological transformation on society and the human condition, as the convergence of the physical, biological, and digital worlds brings about numerous opportunities and challenges.
Marco Barotti’s work Clams is inspired by the molluscs’ powerful ability to detect pollution. His audiovisual installation of moving sculptures, which resemble clams, taps on sensors that measure water quality. The sensors can be placed in any natural or artificial aquatic environment, either close to the clam sculptures or via wireless remote connection from anywhere in the world. The real-time data streamed by the sensor is processed and converted into an audio signal that generates a soundscape as well as the opening and closing movement of the clams. Sound and motion unite to create an audiovisual experience that allows the audience to see and hear the water quality in real time. Using recycled plastic, multiple colours and patterns featuring opaque and transparent characteristics are merged together to create unique sheets that form the shape of the clams.
