About
Biography
Dr Alex Davies is an award winning Australian media artist whose practice spans a diverse range of media and experiments with interaction, technology, perception, mixed reality and illusion. In 2013 he was awarded a PhD in Media Arts at the UNSW College of Fine Arts examining the relationship between the techniques of stage magic and the creation of illusion in media arts. He is a Scientia Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Media Arts at UNSW Australia Art & Design, and has exhibited widely in Australia and internationally. He is the recipient of Qantas Foundation Contemporary Australian Art Award, UNSW Scientia Fellowship, Creative Australia Fellowship and has received numerous grants from the Australia Council’s Inter-Arts, Music, Visual Arts, and New Media Boards.
See also Collaborations section of this website for additional projects and exhibitions.
Education
2006 – 2011 PhD Media Arts, College of Fine Arts, The University of New South Wales
1995 – 2001 Bachelor of Fine Arts with Hons Media Arts, College of Fine Arts, The University of New South Wales
Selected Exhibitions
2022 Edge of the Present, Warburton Arts Center, Victoria, Australia
2022 Edge of the Present, Warwick Art Gallery, Queensland, Australia
2022 Edge of the Present, HOTA, Queensland, Australia
2019 Edge of the Present, The Big Anxiety, UNSW Galleries, Sydney, Australia
2018 Slipstream, International Symposium on Electronic Art, Durban, South Africa
2018, Parragirls, Past, Present, South By Southwest Festival (SXSW) Austin, USA
2017 The Night Odditorium and Other Tales of Wonder, 55 Sydenham Rd Gallery, Sydney, Australia
2015 The Very Near Future – Part 3, Scene 48 Night Ext., Cosmic love Wonderlust, Campbelltown Arts Center, Campbelltown, Australia
2015 Swarm, Cosmic love Wonderlust, SCA Galleries, Sydney, Australia
2014 The Very Near Future, Sydney Festival, Artspace, Sydney, Australia
2013 The Very Near Future, ISEA, Carriageworks, Sydney, Australia
2012 Phantasm #3, The Performance Space, Sydney, Australia
2012 Flutter, Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Canberra Australia
2012 Dislocation, Wonderland, Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei Taiwan
2011 Pugilist Series 449, Nightime #12 FIGHT, The Performance Space, Sydney Australia
2011 The Black Box Sessions, UTS Gallery, Sydney Australia
2009 Häusliches Glück’ European Capital of Culture, Linz Austria
2009 Dislocation, Trace Elements, The Performance Space, Sydney Australia
2008 The Black Box Sessions, HAIP Festival, Ljubljana Slovenia
2008 Dislocation, Trace Elements, Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2008 Dislocation, Mirror States, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney Australia
2007 Documentary Photography’ Chalk Horse Gallery, Sydney Australia
2006 Swarm & Converstations, Re:search / Art collaboration of Australia and Japan, Sendai Mediatheque, Japan
2006 Pugilist Series 449, Platform, The Art Center, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok Thailand
2006 Dislocation, Under the Radar, FACT Liverpool United Kingdom
2006 Flutter, Artspace, Sydney Australia
2006 Pugilist Series 499, Simultan Festival, Timisoara Romania
2006 Pugilist Series 449, Space Invaders, Gallery 4A, Sydney Australia
2006 Sonic Displacements, What Survives, Performance Space, Sydney Australia
2006 Pugilist Series 449, Grudge Match, Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces, Melbourne Australia
2005 Dislocation, Vanishing Point, Melbourne Australia
2005 Recombinant Void, Liquid Architecture Festival, Sydney Australia
2005 Recombinant Void, Simultan Festival, Timisoara, Romania
2005 Recombinant Void, Helen Lempiere Travelling Arts Scholarship, Artspace, Sydney Australia
2004 Drift, International Symposium on Electonic Art (ISEA), Helsinki, Tallin, Baltic
2004 Photography, Dynamo, Firstdraft Gallery, Sydney Australia
2004 Swarm, 2004 Australian Culture Now, ACMI / NGV, Melbourne Australia
2004 work rest play (escape) (Imperial Slacks Collective), Artspace, Sydney Australia
2003 Filter Feeder, Primavera, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney Australia
2003 Anchortronic Performance, Garage Festival, Stralsund Germany
2003 Heterodyne, Garage Festival, Stralsund Germany
2003 Swarm, Artspace, Sydney, Australia
2003 Defocus: Low Res Productions CD (VA), Clan Analogue Records, Sydney Australia
2003 Filter Feeder, FILE Hypersonica, Paço das Artes, Sao Paulo, Brazil
2003 CELL Performance (Triclops International), Big Day Out Festival, Sydney Australia
2002 Anchortronic 5.1 Surround DVD (VA), Staalplaat Records, Berlin, Germany
2002 Data Terra Performance, dLux Future Screen Festival, Sydney Australia
2002 Birdcage Performance, Electrofringe Festival, Newcastle Australia
2002 Radiotopia Network Event, Ars Electronica Festival, Linz Austria
2002 Slacking Off, Imperial Slacks Gallery, Sydney Australia
2002 Filter Feeder, Helen Lempiere Travelling Arts Scholarship, Artspace, Sydney Australia
2002 Reflux, First Draft Gallery, Sydney Australia
2002 TransCodecExpress, O.K Centrum für Gegenwartskunst, Linz Austria
2002 Filter Feeder, Kunstraum, Linz, Austria
2002 BodySpin (Time’s Up), Exit Festival, Paris France
2002 BodySpin (Time’s Up), VIA Festival, Mauberge France
2002 Sonic Displacements, Kunstraum, Linz, Austria
2002 AV Perfomance, What is Music Festival, Sydney, Australia
2002 Triclops International, Big Day Out Festival, Sydney, Australia
2001 AV Performance, Stop Spot, O.K Centrum für Gegenwartskunst, Linz, Austria
2001 Acoustic Trauma, Helen Lempiere Travelling Arts Scholarship Artspace, Sydney Australia
2001 Heterodyne, Space 3 Gallery, Sydney Australia
2001 Fusion Network Event, Sydney, Weimar, Los Angeles, USA
2001 Transient Network Event , CEAT Festival, California, USA
2000 Closing The Loop Network Event, Linz, Austria
2000 Triclops International, What Is Music Festival, Sydney, Australia
1999 Food to Eat Music By CD (VA), Elefant Tracks Records, Sydney, Australia
1999 18 is Enough, Herringbone Gallery, Sydney, Australia
1999 Trancefix, Sydney Fringe Festival, Sydney, Australia
Grants and Awards
2022 Create NSW, ARAP Soundlab
2018 Australia Council for the Arts, Career Development Grant
2017 UNSW, Scientia Fellowship
2014 Australia Council for the Arts, Creative Australia Fellowship
2012 Australia Council for the Arts, Creative Australia Production Grant
2012 Australia Council for the Arts, Music Board, New Work Grant
2011 Australia Council for the Arts, Creative Australia Development Grant
2011 National Association for the Visual Arts, N.S.W Artist Grant
2011 Australia Council for the Arts, Visual Arts Board, New Work Grant
2010 UTS, Academic Career Development Grant
2009 European Capital of Culture, New Work Commission
2008 Australia Council for the Arts, Inter-Arts Office, New Work Grant
2008 Qantas Foundation, Contemporary Australian Art Award
2007 Australia Council for the Arts, Inter-Arts Office, Research and Development Grant
2006-10 University of New South Wales, University Postgraduate Award
2006 Australian Network for Art and Technology, Conference Fund
2006 Sendai Mediatheque, Sendai, Japan, New Work Commission
2005 Australia Council for the Arts, Music Board, New Work Grant
2005 Australia Council for the Arts, Visual Arts and Crafts Board New Work Grant
2005 National Association for the Visual Arts, Marketing Grant
2004 UTS, Vice Chancellors Conference Fund
2004 Experimenta Media Arts, ‘New Visions’, New Work Commission
2004 Australia Council for the Arts, New Media Arts Board, New Work Grant
2003 Australia Council for the Arts New Media Arts Board, Presentation and Promotion Grant
2002 Kunstraum, Linz, Austria, New Work Commission
2002 Australia Council for the Arts, New Media Arts Board, Research and Development Grant
2002 Times Up Laboratories, Linz, Austria, Research Residency
2001 Australia Council for the Arts, New Media Arts Board, Research and Development Grant
1998 Australian Film Commission, New Media Development Grant
Research publications and presentations
Davies, A., 2022, The Present Edge of a Very Near Future, Futures Brought to Life: From Immersion via Agency to Engagement, Angewandte Innovation Lab, Vienna, Austria.
Davies, A. and Crosby, A., 2015, August. Compressorhead: the robot band and its transmedia storyworld. In International Workshop in Cultural Robotics (pp. 175-189). Springer International Publishing.
Davies, A. and Koh, J., 2017. Häusliches Gluck: A Case Study on Deception in a Mixed Reality Environment 29. Handbook of Digital Games and Entertainment Technologies, p.693.
Davies, A., 2014, ‘Spatial Narratives in The Very Near Future’. Narrative Strategies Symposium, M-ITI, Madeira, Portugal.
Davies, A., 2013, Magic, mixed realities & misdirection – Doctoral Thesis, College of Fine Arts, UNSW Australia.
Morrison, A., Davies, A., Bre evi , G., Sem, I., Boykett, T. & Bre evi , R., 2010 ‘Designing performativity for mixed reality installations’, FORMakademisk,
vol. 3, no. 1.
Davies, A., 2010, ‘Adrift in the virtuality continuum’, Computers in Entertainment (CIE), vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 1-14. ACM, New York, USA
Davies. A., 2009 Conference presentation and panel chair, ‘Double Blind: Augmented Realities in The Black Box Sessions’, Performing Presence: from the live to the simulated, Exeter University, Exeter, United Kingdom, 26-29 March.
Davies. A., 2008 ‘Illusion in Mixed Reality’, Keho, Body Edition, Issue 3, pp. 27-30.
Davies, A., 2008. Frolicking with phantoms: illusion in mixed reality. Engage: Interaction, Art & Audience Experience. CCS / ACID Symposium. University of Technology Sydney, 26-28th November. Creativity and Cognition Studio’s Press. pp. 68-79.
Davies. A., 2005 Conference presentation, ‘On-Screen / In-Space’, Vital Signs RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia, 8-9 September.
Residencies
2022 ARAP Soundlab Residency
2011 UTS Gallery, Sydney, Australia
2009 FoAM vzw, Brussels, Belgium
2009 Nadine Laboratory for Contemporary Arts, Brussels, Belgium
2006 Asialink, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok Thailand
2005 Sendai Mediatheque, Sendai, Japan
2004 Recombinant Media Labs, San Francisco USA
2002 Time’s Up, Linz Austria
Invited lectures/symposiums/workshops
2022 Mentor, AFF Expand Lab, Adelaide Film Festival, Australia
2014 Workshop participant, Laurisilva Transmedia Storytelling, M-ITI (Madeira Interactive Technology Institute), Madeira, Portugal.
2014 Guest lecture, Interface Culture Program, Kunstuniversität Linz, Austria
2011 Workshop presenter, Interactive Media, secondary schools, UTS Gallery, Sydney Australia
2010 Guest Lecture for Digital Cultures Program, School of Letters, Art, and Media, The University of Sydney
2009 Guest Lecture, Interface Culture Program, Kunstuniversität Linz, Austria
2009 Master Class presenter ‘Mixed Reality’ Nadine, Brussels, Belgium
2008 Master Class presenter ‘Chroma Key and Interactive Arts’ Campbelltown Arts Centre, Campbelltown, Australia
2008 Invited Participant, Better than Reality, Mixed reality Workshop, V2 Institute for the Unstable Media, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
2008 Invited participant, ‘xmedk’ Workshop – Performing Arts Forum, St Erme, France
2008 Invited Participant, ‘Ragtag Video’ Workshop – Interactive Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
2008 Artist Talk, Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo Japan
2008 Artist Talk, Tokyo Wondersite Aoyama, Tokyo Japan
2008 Invited Participant, ‘Technologies of Listening’ Workshop, ARC Cultural Research Network and the Trans/forming Cultures Research Centre, UTS, Sydney
2006 Artist Talk, Foundation for Art and Creative Technology (FACT), Liverpool United Kingdom
2006 Invited Speaker ‘The Art of Documentation’ Seminar, The Art Center, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok Thailand
2006 Workshop presenter ‘Physical Computing’ Electrofringe, Newcastle Australia
2005 Invited Lecture Future Screen Series – National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Australia
2004 Artist Talk, Australian Center for the Moving Image (ACMI), Melbourne Australia
2003 Artist Talk, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney Australia
2002 Workshop presenter ‘Max MSP Network Composition’ Electrofringe, Newcastle Australia