James Clar is an American artist whose work fuses technology, pop art, street culture, and visual information. Let us introduce you to his work, in case you do not know him already.
James Clar is a media artist whose work is a fusion of technology, popular culture, and visual information. Actually, his work is an analysis and observation on the affects of media and technology on our perception of culture, nationality, and identity. His interest is in new technology and production processes, using them as a medium, while analyzing and critiquing their modifying affects on human behavior.
Technology allows for new forms of communication; however every system enhances certain types of communication while limiting and simplifying others. It’s these modulated effects and alterations to our perception that has become thematic focus to his works, whether dealing with socio-political issues or inward personal emotions.
Originally studying film and animation at New York University; at graduate school (NYU’s Interactive Telecommunication’s Program), he came to view televisions as light systems and their own medium. Instead of relying on this set system, he started to develop his own visual systems by controlling and manipulating light itself. These light works became a physical extension of the pixel beyond the screen, pixels that created three-dimensional sculptural form.
In 2007 James moved to Dubai and lived there till 2012. In the five years living there he became an active participant in the development of the arts and culture scene of the globalized city. While his early work dealt with analyzing how technology and media work, his experiences in the Middle East saw his focus shift to how technology and media affect. This included themes of nationalism, globalism, and popular culture in the age of mass information.
In 2012 James moved his studio back to New York where he currently lives and works.
Clar’s other achievements include three patents in the US for new engineering systems created while developing his light art. He was an artist in residence at Eyebeam Atelier in New York, Fabrica in Italy, and the FedEx Institute of Technology/Lantana Projects in Memphis. His artwork has been included in the Chanel Mobile Art exhibition (Tokyo), The New Museum of Contemporary Arts (New York), The Chelsea Art Museum (New York), The Somerset House (UK), Museum on Seam (Jerusalem), and LV Gallery (Hong Kong).
