Global software leader SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced its exclusive partnership with the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum in London for an innovative and interactive exhibition entitled Decode: Digital Design Sensations. Central to the technology-based arts experience is Bit.Code, a new work by German artist Julius Popp, commissioned by SAP and the V&A. Bit.Code is themed around the concept of clarity, which also reflects SAP's focus on transparency of data in business, and of how people process and use digital information.
As consumers, people are overwhelmed with information that comes from a wide variety of electronic sources. Decode is about translating into a visual format the increasing amount of data that people digest on a daily basis. The exhibit seeks to process and make sense of this while engaging the viewer in myriad ways.
As a business-to-business software company, SAP helps organizations of any size create efficiencies in their operations and have clarity so they can understand what is happening in every aspect of their business. For example, SAP® BusinessObjects(TM) Explorer software lets business people search vast amounts of data in seconds and visualize it in a way they can understand and make better decisions. This ability to electronically sift through data and have it make sense to the user - or viewer - is also a central theme of Decode.
"We are pleased to announce the V&A's new partnership with SAP for Decode: Digital Design Sensations and the jointly commissioned garden installation by Julius Popp," said Mark Jones, director, Victoria and Albert Museum. "SAP is also enabling a strand of interactive learning programs for the public, as well as supporting the exhibition microsite. We look forward to the success of this partnership and to launching this exciting exhibition in December."
Clarity is a strong theme in contemporary design practice and is particularly highlighted through Bit.Code. With a large screen comprised of spinning black and white tracks representing the ones and zeros of binary digital code, Bit.Code engages the viewer with its movement and mechanical noise. At certain points throughout the day, the codes align into moments of clarity, clearly displaying the most popular words taken from recent Web feeds including news sites and blogs. Bit.Code will also have an interactive online presence.
SAP has a history of supporting creativity in the digital arts: in 2004 and 2005, the company collaborated with Ars Electronica on a series of events and programs that revolved around novel ways of visualizing information.
"Just as Decode's artists are bringing clarity to digital information in a visual way, SAP solutions provide clarity of information in the business world," said Leo Apotheker, CEO, SAP. "SAP's sponsorship of Decode gives our company the opportunity to illustrate this idea in a way that can be experienced by people from all walks of life."
Decode is curated in collaboration with leading digital arts organization onedotzero, and focuses on three themes: "Code as Raw Material," which looks at how data coding can be programmed to create fluid and ever-changing objects; "Interactivity," which looks at how viewers can influence a work of art; and "The Network," which examines the digital traces left behind from communication tools such as blogs, mobile communications or global positioning systems (GPSs). Other artists to exhibit in Decode include Golan Levin, John Maeda and Daniel Brown.
Artist Julius Popp
Based in Leipzig, Germany, Popp is known for his interdisciplinary works in which art and science converge. Popp focuses on the basic aspects that underpin intricate interrelationships among humans, machines and nature - all while using "software intelligence" that remains hidden from an observer's view. Popp has received numerous international awards for his work, and has shown in notable exhibitions at Artexpo in New York and at the Kunstraum B2 in Leipzig.
Decode: Digital Design Sensations will run at the V&A from December 8, 2009 through April 11, 2010. The V&A and SAP intend to tour the exhibition to additional world museums in 2010 and 2011.
About the Victoria and Albert Museum
The V&A is the world's greatest museum of art and design with collections unrivalled in their scope and diversity. It was established to make works of art available to all and to inspire British designers and manufacturers. Today, the V&A's collections which span over 2000 years of human creativity in virtually every medium and from many parts of the world, continue to intrigue, inspire and inform. www.vam.ac.uk
About onedotzero
onedotzero is a London-based moving image and digital arts organization that commissions, showcases and promotes innovation across all aspects of moving image, digital and interactive arts. The organization, founded in 1996, is known for representing a diverse array of artistic endeavor. It has a cross-media and collaborative approach attuned to technological advances and fast-paced change within digital arts and the contemporary culture landscape. www.onedotzero.com
As consumers, people are overwhelmed with information that comes from a wide variety of electronic sources. Decode is about translating into a visual format the increasing amount of data that people digest on a daily basis. The exhibit seeks to process and make sense of this while engaging the viewer in myriad ways.
As a business-to-business software company, SAP helps organizations of any size create efficiencies in their operations and have clarity so they can understand what is happening in every aspect of their business. For example, SAP® BusinessObjects(TM) Explorer software lets business people search vast amounts of data in seconds and visualize it in a way they can understand and make better decisions. This ability to electronically sift through data and have it make sense to the user - or viewer - is also a central theme of Decode.
"We are pleased to announce the V&A's new partnership with SAP for Decode: Digital Design Sensations and the jointly commissioned garden installation by Julius Popp," said Mark Jones, director, Victoria and Albert Museum. "SAP is also enabling a strand of interactive learning programs for the public, as well as supporting the exhibition microsite. We look forward to the success of this partnership and to launching this exciting exhibition in December."
Clarity is a strong theme in contemporary design practice and is particularly highlighted through Bit.Code. With a large screen comprised of spinning black and white tracks representing the ones and zeros of binary digital code, Bit.Code engages the viewer with its movement and mechanical noise. At certain points throughout the day, the codes align into moments of clarity, clearly displaying the most popular words taken from recent Web feeds including news sites and blogs. Bit.Code will also have an interactive online presence.
SAP has a history of supporting creativity in the digital arts: in 2004 and 2005, the company collaborated with Ars Electronica on a series of events and programs that revolved around novel ways of visualizing information.
"Just as Decode's artists are bringing clarity to digital information in a visual way, SAP solutions provide clarity of information in the business world," said Leo Apotheker, CEO, SAP. "SAP's sponsorship of Decode gives our company the opportunity to illustrate this idea in a way that can be experienced by people from all walks of life."
Decode is curated in collaboration with leading digital arts organization onedotzero, and focuses on three themes: "Code as Raw Material," which looks at how data coding can be programmed to create fluid and ever-changing objects; "Interactivity," which looks at how viewers can influence a work of art; and "The Network," which examines the digital traces left behind from communication tools such as blogs, mobile communications or global positioning systems (GPSs). Other artists to exhibit in Decode include Golan Levin, John Maeda and Daniel Brown.
Artist Julius Popp
Based in Leipzig, Germany, Popp is known for his interdisciplinary works in which art and science converge. Popp focuses on the basic aspects that underpin intricate interrelationships among humans, machines and nature - all while using "software intelligence" that remains hidden from an observer's view. Popp has received numerous international awards for his work, and has shown in notable exhibitions at Artexpo in New York and at the Kunstraum B2 in Leipzig.
Decode: Digital Design Sensations will run at the V&A from December 8, 2009 through April 11, 2010. The V&A and SAP intend to tour the exhibition to additional world museums in 2010 and 2011.
About the Victoria and Albert Museum
The V&A is the world's greatest museum of art and design with collections unrivalled in their scope and diversity. It was established to make works of art available to all and to inspire British designers and manufacturers. Today, the V&A's collections which span over 2000 years of human creativity in virtually every medium and from many parts of the world, continue to intrigue, inspire and inform. www.vam.ac.uk
About onedotzero
onedotzero is a London-based moving image and digital arts organization that commissions, showcases and promotes innovation across all aspects of moving image, digital and interactive arts. The organization, founded in 1996, is known for representing a diverse array of artistic endeavor. It has a cross-media and collaborative approach attuned to technological advances and fast-paced change within digital arts and the contemporary culture landscape. www.onedotzero.com
