About Brendan Dawes

Brendan Dawes (B. 1966) uses generative processes involving data, machine learning, and code to create interactive installations, electronic objects, online experiences, data visualisations, motion graphics, and physical sculptures. Dawes draws much of his inspiration from popular culture and nature, often revolving his work around concepts of time and memory. These analytical explorations interrogate our understanding of the surrounding world. An Alumni of the Lumen Prize and Aesthetica Art Prize, Dawes’ work has been featured in exhibitions worldwide, including Big Bang Data in thirteen cities, and three shows at MoMA, New York; the latter acquiring artwork Cinema Redux for their permanent collection. Following his Genesis NFT on KnownOrigin selling within the hour to legendary collector WhaleShark, Dawes released a collection on Nifty Gateway – selling out in under sixty seconds. He has also released work on MakersPlace, Foundation and SuperRare. His work has been auctioned at Sotheby’s Natively Digital: A Curated NFT Sale and Generative Art and The Future, an art exhibition in Shenzhen hosted by China’s largest auction house, Beijing Poly International Auction

Demanding participation, Brendan Dawes’ artistic practice harnesses time as medium in his explorations of the surrounding world. By means of code, data, and generative systems, Dawes’ interest in human connection is revealed across electronic objects, screens, physical sculpture and interactive installation. Much of the artist’s work instigates dialogue. Take real-time generative work You, Me, and the Machine (2022) – created for the Herbert W. Franke Tribute – which morphs its appearance in relation to a viewer’s proximity, or Passengers BCN (2023) – created for Digital Impact, Barcelona – which responds to official passenger data from Barcelona airport during COVID and gives sculptural form to the relationship between digital and physical. An openness to collective authorship gives Dawes’ conceptual approach a tangible accessibility and a playful edge, which serves to interrogate the rigidity and revelations of data.