Approved: 16.08.2006

Michael Takeo Magruder

Artist, Researcher

Approved: 16.08.2006

Michael Takeo Magruder (b.1974, US/UK, www.takeo.org) is a visual artist and researcher who works with emerging media including real-time data, VR environments, mobile devices, digital archives, and AI processes. His practice explores concepts ranging from media criticism and aesthetic journalism to digital formalism and computational aesthetics, deploying Information Age technologies and systems to examine our networked, media-rich world.

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  • Location: London and Coventry, West Midlands
  • Contexts: Public art
  • Artforms: Installation, Performance, Sculpture
  • Tags: astronomy, data visualisation, fulldome, interactive, new technology, virtual, broadcast video, globalization, information age, urban screen, video wall, data mining, terrorism, financial markets, glass
 

Artist Statement

Michael Takeo Magruder (b.1974, US/UK, www.takeo.org) is a visual artist and researcher who works with emerging media including real-time data, VR environments, mobile devices, digital archives, and AI processes. His practice explores concepts ranging from media criticism and aesthetic journalism to digital formalism and computational aesthetics, deploying Information Age technologies and systems to examine our networked, media-rich world.

In the last 25 years, Michael’s projects have been showcased in over 300 exhibitions in 35 countries, including the British Library, London; Circulo de Bellas Artes, Madrid; the Courtauld Institute of Art, London; EAST International, Norwich; Eastside Projects, Birmingham; FACT, Liverpool; Georges Pompidou Center, Paris; KIBLA Multimedijski Center, Maribor; Museum of London; Nam June Paik Art Center, Seoul; QUAD, Derby; SESI’ Cultural Centre, São Paulo; Somerset House, London; Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography; and Trans-Media-Akademie, Hellerau. His art has been funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; Arts Council England; the British Council; the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation; the EU Culture Programme; the Leverhulme Trust; the National Endowment for the Arts, US; and the National Lottery, UK. Michael has been commissioned by numerous public galleries in the UK and abroad and by the leading Internet Art portal Turbulence.org. He is represented by Gazelli Art House in Mayfair, London.

In 2010, Michael was selected to represent the UK at Manifesta 8: the European Biennial of Contemporary Art and several of his most well-known digital artworks were added to the Rose Goldsen Archive of New Media Art at Cornell University. In 2013, he was a Leverhulme Trust artist-in-residence (2013-14) collaborating with Prof Ben Quash (Theology, King’s College London) and Alfredo Cramerotti (Director, Mostyn) to research and develop a new solo exhibition – entitled De/coding the Apocalypse – exploring contemporary creative visions inspired by and based on the Book of Revelation. In 2014, Michael was commissioned by the UK-based theatre company Headlong to create two new artworks – PRISM (a new media installation reflecting on Headlong’s production of George Orwell’s 1984) and The Nether Realm (a living virtual world inspired by Jennifer Haley’s play The Nether). The following year, he was awarded the 2015 Immersive Environments Lumen Prize for his virtual reality installation A New Jerusalem. More recently, Michael has worked with Prof Aaron Rosen (Director, Parsonage Gallery) to develop projects reflecting on current issues surrounding migration in the West including the Syrian Civil War (Lamentation for the Forsaken, 2016) and the US southern border crisis (Zero Tolerance, 2018). He was artist/researcher-in-residence at the British Library, undertaking the Imaginary Cities (2019) project that creatively examines digital map archives drawn from the Library’s One Million Images from Scanned Books collection on Flickr Commons. In 2020, Michael was the first ever artist-in-residence at the UK National Archives and explored the institution's ongoing digital transformation and what constitutes an archive in the 21st century. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Michael was virtual artist-in-residence at the Henry Luce III Center for the Arts & Religion in Washington, DC where he investigated social and ethical issues surrounding the international health crisis.

 

Michael received his formal education at the University of Virginia, USA and graduated in 1996 with a BSc (Hons) in molecular biology. His research focuses on the intersections between contemporary art, emerging technology, and interdisciplinary practice. Michael’s writings have been widely published, with contributions appearing in books and journals such as: Poetics Today (2020, Duke University Press, US); Art Libraries Journal (2016, Cambridge University Press, UK); NJP Reader #5 (2014, Nam June Paik Art Center, KR); Preserving Complex Digital Objects (2014, Facet, UK); the International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media (2011, Intellect, UK); Theatre without Vanishing Points (2010, Alexander Verlag, DE), Performing Technology: User Content and the New Digital Media (2009, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, UK); Virtual/Physical Bodies (2008, Centre des Arts, FR) and Die Welt als virtuelles Environment (2007, TMA Hellerau, DE). In addition, Michael has published two monographs: (re)mediation_s 2000-2010 (2012, Peterborough Museum & Art Gallery, UK) that outlines a decade of his work within the areas of news media, mobile devices and virtual worlds; and Imaginary Cities (2019, British Library, UK) that documents his solo exhibition at the British Library.

CV & Education

Full CV (as PDF)

Education and Positions:

  • 2020-2023  Virtual Artist in Residence, Henry Luce III Center for Arts & Religion, US
  • 2019-2022  Artist in Residence : The National Archives, Kew, UK
  • 2016-2021  Artist & Researcher in Residence, British Library, London, UK
  • 2014-2020  Associate Artist, Centre for Arts & the Sacred, King’s College London, UK
  • 2012-2014  Artist in Residence, Dept. of Theology, King’s College London, UK
  • 2005-2014  Artist & Researcher, Dept. of Digital Humanities, King’s College London, UK
  • 2003-2005  Artist & Researcher, 3D Visualisation Lab, University of Warwick, UK
  • 1992-1996  BS (Hons) in Biological Science, University of Virginia, US

Solo Exhibitions and Projects (selected: 50+ in total):

  • 2022  Sea Watch, The Parsonage, Searsport, ME, US
  • 2021  [re]Encoding the Archive, The National Archives, Kew, London, UK
  • 2019  Zero Tolerance, Hå Gamle Prestegard, Nærbø, NO
  • 2019  Imaginary Cities, The British Library, London, UK
  • 2018  Undocumented (with Bently Spang), Kirks’ Grocery, Billings, MT, US
  • 2018  De/coding the Apocalypse, Panacea Museum, Bedford, UK
  • 2017  Stranded Monuments (with Cristian Rusu), Galeria Plan B, Cluj, RO
  • 2017  Lamentation for the Forsaken, VTS & Wesley Theological Seminary, US
  • 2014  De/coding the Apocalypse, Inigo Rooms, Somerset House, London, UK
  • 2014  The Nether Realm, The Royal Court Theatre, London, UK
  • 2010  PRISM, Cultural Institute at King’s College London, London, UK
  • 2010  Living Data, Peterborough Museum, Watermans, Brindley, Dame Hannahs. et. al., UK
  • 2010  (in)Remembrance [11-M], Manifesta 8: European Biennial of Contemporary Art, Murcia, ES
  • 2010  Vanishing Point(s) & Communion v2.0, Digital Humanities 2010, King’s College London, UK
  • 2009  Changing Room v1.0, Eastside Projects, Birmingham, UK
  • 2009  Data_Sea v1.0, Thinktank Science Museum, Millennium Point, Birmingham, UK
  • 2007  Addressable Memory, Peterborough Museum, Gibbard Gallery, South Hill Park, et. al., UK
  • 2005  Communion v1.0 : exhibition : 20-21 Visual Art Centre : Scunthorpe, UK
  • 2004  [retrospection], Old Market Hall Media Centre, Shrewsbury, UK
  • 2003  [element]al, Norden Farm Centre for the Arts, Maidenhead, UK
  • 2001  [element]s, Phillips Gallery - Brewhouse Art Centre, Taunton, UK
  • 2000  ¿Transcendence?, Alsager Gallery, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
  • 1999  Archive, The Warwick & Leamington Festival, Warwick, UK
  • 1998  Michael Takeo Magruder, Lanchester Gallery, Coventry University, UK

Group Exhibitions and Projects (selected: 250+ in total):

  • 2023  Art Meets Science, MDI Biological Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME, US
  • 2023  GAZELL.iO - ART SG, Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre, SG
  • 2022  Parallel Worlds - CineGlobe 2022, The Globe, CERN, Geneva, CH
  • 2021  Orase Invizibile/Tarâmuri Imaginare, Comenduirea Garnizoanei,Timisoara, RO
  • 2020  Enter Through the Headset 5, Gazelli Art House, London, UK
  • 2019  Tense Present, KIBLA Portal, Maribor, SI
  • 2019  Secret Rivers, Museum of London Docklands, London, UK
  • 2018  Enter Through the Headset 3, Gazelli Art House, London, UK
  • 2018  And I Will Take You to Paradise, Art Museum KUBE, Ålesund, NO
  • 2018  Memoria RAM, Museo Extremeño e Iberoamericano de Arte Contemporáneo, Badajoz, ES
  • 2017  Stations of the Cross, Washington DC, US
  • 2017  Gazell.io, Gazelli Art House, London + Internet, UK
  • 2016  FILE 2016, FIESP Cultural Center, São Paulo, BR
  • 2016  Stations of the Cross, London, UK
  • 2015  Lumen Prize 2015, various international venues
  • 2015  Videomedeja - 19, Museum of Contemporary Art of Vojvodina, Novi Sad, CS
  • 2015  Your Jewish Museum: Journeys, Jewish Museum London, London, UK
  • 2015  Soirée Oculus Rift - CineGlobe 2015, The Globe, CERN, Geneva, CH
  • 2014  The C(h)roma Show, Croma store Indiranagar, Bangalore, IN
  • 2014  Paik-Orwell Club - Warez Academy [7], Nam June Paik Art Center, Seoul, KR
  • 2014  Rewritten by Machine & New Technology, Indiana State University, US
  • 2013  London Design Festival: Digital Design Weekend, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK
  • 2013  Digital Shoreditch 2013, Shoreditch Town Hall, London, UK
  • 2012  Dual, The Cutting Room @ Nottingham Playhouse, Nottingham, UK
  • 2012  Robots & Avatars, FACT, UK; Europe House, UK; KIBLA Multimedijski Center, SI
  • 2012  25th Stuttgarter Filmwinter, Stuttgart, DE
  • 2011  VAD11 (Video & Digital Arts International) Festival, Girona, ES
  • 2011  FILE São Paulo 2011, SESI’ Cultural Centre, São Paulo, BR
  • 2011  All That Fits: The Aesthetics of Journalism, QUAD, Derby, UK
  • 2010  FAD - Digital Art Festival, Oi Futuro Visual Arts Gallery, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, BR
  • 2010  FILE São Paulo 2010, SESI’ Cultural Centre, São Paulo, BR
  • 2009  Marginalia, Pace Digital Gallery, New York, NY, US
  • 2009  Abstract Cabinet, Eastside Projects, Birmingham, UK
  • 2009  After the End / Faux raccords - 18th Rencontres Internationales, Tabacalera, Madrid, ES
  • 2008  Virtual Physical Bodies, Centre des Arts, Enghien-les-Bains, Paris, FR
  • 2008  Web Flash Festival 2008, Georges Pompidou Center, Paris, FR
  • 2008  Data Meanings - 15th Rencontres Internationales, El Aguila, Madrid, ES
  • 2008  Mixed-Realities, Turbulence.org, Ars Virtua (Second Life), Huret & Spector Gallery, US
  • 2007  CYNETart07, Trans-Media-Akademie Hellerau, Dresden, DE
  • 2007  d/Art07, Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney, AU
  • 2007  12th International Media Art Biennale - WRO 07, National Museum, Wroclaw, PL
  • 2007  Media Criticism - 12th Rencontres Internationales, Circulo de Bellas Artes, Madrid, ES
  • 2007  Faith in Exposure, Netherlands Media Art Institute, Amsterdam, NL
  • 2006  Intersections, SIGGRAPH 2006 Art Gallery, Boston, MA, US
  • 2006  Spectacles of the Real, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, US
  • 2006  Spark Festival of Electronic Music and Art, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, US
  • 2006  Culture Bound: The East Wing Collection No.7, The Courtauld Institute of Art, London, UK
  • 2005  International Media Art Festival, Armenian Center for Contemporary Experimental Art, AM
  • 2005  Net:Reality, 20-21 Visual Art Centre, Q-Arts, Peterborough Museum, et. al., UK
  • 2005  EAST International 2005, Norwich Gallery, Norwich School of Art & Design, Norwich, UK
  • 2005  Salón de Arte Digital - IV, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo del Zulia, Maracaibo, VE
  • 2005  Videoformes, Musée du Ranquet de Clermont-Ferrand, Clermont-Ferrand, FR
  • 2004  11th Visual Arts Biennial, New Media Centre, Gallery of Contemporary Art, Pancevo, CS
  • 2004  coded cultures, MuseumsQuartier, Vienna, AT
  • 2004  SeNef2004 - 5th Seoul Net & Film Festival, Seoul, KR
  • 2003  Technology in Art, Olin Fine Arts Center, W&J College, US
  • 2003  6th Media Arts Festival exhibition, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, JP