Digital Graffiti at Alys Beach up for Prestigious Award - Please Vote!

[SoWal Staff]

Direct from Digital Graffiti at Alys Beach:

We are delighted to announce that our incredible Digital Graffiti at Alys Beach 2024 festival has been selected as a finalist for this year's prestigious CODAawards. The internationally acclaimed CODAawards “celebrate the projects that most successfully integrate commissioned art into interior, architectural, or public spaces.”

In addition to DG's consideration for recognition in the Residential category (DG project profile), DG is also being considered for one of two People's Choice awards, which is based on YOUR VOTES! Voting ends just before noon (CT) on Tuesday, July 2nd, and we have some traction to gain to be contenders.

Please cast your vote for Digital Graffiti by clicking HERE and scrolling down to row 7 (image of Caliza Courts, Emerging Artists Showcase). And, of course, we'd love for you to share this however you may feel compelled: https://www.codaworx.com/codaawards/2024-top-100/.

We appreciate your support in championing the Digital Graffiti festival, which has grown to represent a phenomenal investment in and outlet for the arts and art education in our community. Thank you for joining us in this celebration of Digital Graffiti as an exceptional integration of art and technology with architecture and environment, an annual collection of events designed to uniquely, specially showcase the outstanding talents of its participating artists, technicians, and creative partners in the architecturally beautiful New Urbanist town of Alys Beach. Thank you for your votes!

 

[SoWal Staff]

CODAworx

www.codaworx.com

Digital Graffiti Curator
John Colette

Event Director
Alexis Miller

Technology Consultant
Geoffrey Platt

Residency Artist; CREATIØN
Brandon “Xodus” Ellis
Immersive Studio – X Enterprises International

Residency Artist – Optical Odyssey
Diana Reichenbach

Residency Artist - beyond the walls
Jérémy Oury

Alys Beach, Florida’s 17th Annual Digital Graffiti festival took place May 2024. The projection arts festival footprint covered a .78-mile exhibition path with 72 artworks projected onto 59 different architectural residences, common and commercial spaces, and landscapes within the town. The works of 57 artists were selected from over 125 global submissions for the juried exhibition, shown with the works of residency artists and art students participating in the Emerging Artist Showcase through collegiate and local middle and high school programs.

Digital Graffiti is held each year in the architecturally significant coastal town of Alys Beach, the open-air, organic, nighttime gallery activating the graphic white walls of the residences as the primary canvases for the display of projection art, providing a special and specific context for artists to explore the visual intersection of art, technology, and architecture. Curator John Colette views the festival as an opportunity to invite the audience into the living town, outside of the traditional gallery construct, allowing the interaction between the art and the environment, and the impact of the audience’s own input and physical influence on the art projections, to create an ephemeral, “living” art experience.


Digital Graffiti aims to explore the engagement between art, technology, the built and organic upon which the art projections are displayed, and the influence of audience and environmental input. For the annual exhibition, three Residency Artists are selected from previous years’ juried selections to stay in Alys Beach ahead of the festival to collect inspiration, create new works or adjust existing pieces, mapping them digitally to the town’s architecture. Curator John Colette works with Residency Artists, finalists, creative partners, and students participating in the Emerging Artist Showcase, to create a cohesive and dynamic show that continually expands creative and technological explorations.

The overall goal is to create an experience for both artist and audience that combines art and the environment, including the impact of the audience’s own input and physical influence on the art projections, changing the overall perspective, offering a “cue for the imagination” and integrating art, environment, and experience. Digital Graffiti is designed to engage and build community around a shared art experience.


Production for Digital Graffiti began approximately nine months prior with a free, open Call for Entries, inviting submissions from artists worldwide. Submissions were evaluated by the curator, technology consultant, and the Alys Beach Team and finalists selected based on which would exhibit best in the environment. Residency Artists were selected and slated to arrive in Alys Beach prior to the festival for a hosted stay, creative exploration and the opportunity to engage site-specific applications around the architecture and landscape.

The festival footprint was set within the residential streets and paths, display locations evaluated, and placements determined and tested for each piece, optimizing the play between art and environment/architecture/landscape, and needs for installation identified. Full production occurred over 10 days for a four-day stretch of 10 festival events (educational panels, artist gatherings, exhibition previews and judging, an all-inclusive exhibition event for adults, and an all-ages exhibition event) with 17 crew members, 139 total exhibiting artists (finalists, Residency Artists, students, and creative partners), 112 volunteers, 23 vendors, and 91 projectors (from 5K – 22K lumens). A panel of judges identified the winning artists from the finalists.

Digital Graffiti is underwritten by the 501c3 organization, The Alys Foundation, to provide a fully produced festival experience. Finalists selected by elective submission compete for $10,000 in cash prizes awarded Best in Show, Curator’s Choice, and three Special Recognition selections made by a panel of qualified judges. Participating artists are offered housing, event access, and special artist functions to encourage their in-person attendance, and Residency Artists are offered stipends of $3,500 each. Digital Graffiti aims to provide exposure and growth opportunities for its artist, student, and production community, helping forge connections and often collaborations, as well as increasingly encouraging an environment of creative exploration and education. The curator, artists, and production and events teams collaborate to bring the exhibition together, and participating artists who attend the festival are allowed the opportunity to see their work come to life at the exceptional scale afforded by the architecture of Alys Beach, and to experience the audience engagement firsthand.

Photos by Kurt Lischka, for Alys Beach