The 19th International Symposium on Electronic Art presented by Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT) and supported by Destination NSW to align with Vivid Sydney showcased the best media artworks and future-focused ideas from Australia and around the world at venues across greater Sydney.

ISEA International, founded in The Netherlands in 1990, fosters interdisciplinary exchange among culturally diverse organisations and individuals working with art, science and technology. Last seen in Sydney in 1992, the annual International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA) returns 21 years later to deliver another ground-breaking event.

In that time, digital art has moved from the margins to become part of the fabric of everyday life. At once ubiquitous and unnoticed, resistance to electronic art has proven futile — it now lies embedded in the heart of our contemporary cultures. The symposium events will infuse the city’s social, digital and physical infrastructure. 

A highlight of the program was the Australian premiere of test pattern, a stunning large-scale immersive installation by renowned Japanese artist Ryoji Ikeda. Carriageworks and ISEA2013, proudly collaborating with Vivid Sydney, the Southern Hemisphere’s largest celebration of light, music and ideas, co-present test pattern at Carriageworks from 8 June until 1 July 2013. Like many of Ikeda’s electrifying works, test pattern represents the intense energies of the massive data flows that increasingly shape our globalised world.

Also central to ISEA2013 was a stimulating program of artists’ presentations, creative dialogues and critical debates.  The three-day ISEA2013 Conference featured over 200 speakers, as well as eight keynote addresses from global leaders in the fields of art, science, technology, media and communications.  Topics discussed included emerging cultural forms such as bio-art, data representation, robotics, augmented realities and urban and virtual ecologies.