Text by CLOT Magazine
shemza.digital is a new interactive artwork by Aphra Shemza and Stuart Batchelor that invites members of the public to contribute online from Wednesday, 18 November 2020, via Aphra Shemza’s website shemza.digital.
Shemza and Batchelor ask the public to join them on this journey, generating art that is free and accessible to all, both in its making and its perception. Using the bespoke software hosted online, the viewer begins by clicking on the canvas to begin drawing with custom digital paints based on the elements from Anwar Shemza’s work. The viewer can alter the colours of their design and choose between the paints to create their own unique drawing. Designs are then uploaded and stored in an online archive to be cumulatively transformed into a generative light art installation in 2021, they told.
The inspiration behind this piece is Aphra Shemza’s grandfather Anwar Jalal Shemza, who, in his works, explored the relationship between basic geometrical shapes, such as the circle and the square (so present in Aphra Shemza’s universe).
shemza.digital launches on November 18 at ‘ShiLing Ground’, an online event curated by Aphra Shemza for Art in Flux in collaboration with National Gallery X that invites key media artists to present their work exploring identity, cultural heritage and migration. Speakers include Aphra Shemza, Stuart Batchelor, Bishi BhaOacharya, Prem Sahib and Rehana Zaman.
