Paul B. Davis

Paul utilises outdated or obsolete computer technologies to perform specialist interventions in the digital art medium.

Staff details

Paul B. Davis

Position

Lecturer in Fine Art

Department

Art

Email

p.davis (@gold.ac.uk)

Paul B. Davis utilises outdated or obsolete computer technologies, including most notably Nintendo games systems, in order to perform specialist interventions into the territory of the digital art medium. While the materials utilised are ready-made, the use principle is entirely handcrafted and implemented as a projection of alternative potentials onto consumer devices.

While still in college in the late 90s Davis pioneered the use of hacked video game cartridges as a sculptural object, after which he founded the BEIGE art collective with Cory Arcangel, Joe Beuckman, and Joseph Bonn. BEIGE then developed Davis’s hacking theory and praxis into a distinct body of work that has been shown internationally.

His more recent video work has involved aestheticising the glitches commonly encountered in digital video compression, bringing an element previously considered to be a fault into the fore, as a device for merging and demerging images and narrative.

Academic qualifications

  • Present, Ph.D, “Turing-completeness as Medium”, Central St. Martins, London, UK
  • 2001, Graduate Study, Studio Art & Technology, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
  • 2000, B. Mus, Electronic & Computer Music / Harpsichord private study, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Oberlin, OH

Paul has fourteen years of teaching experience in higher education. Prior to arriving at Goldsmiths, Paul was a Visiting Tutor and Digital Methods Leader on the MA Innovation Design Engineering course at the Royal College of Art and a Visiting Lecturer on the MA Interactive Digital Media course at Ravensbourne College of Design.

In addition, Paul has given numerous master classes, workshops, and lectures at institutions and events around the world including the British Film Institute (London, UK), FACT (Liverpool UK), the Malmo Art Academy (Malmo SE), Plug Minas (Belo Horizonte BR), the Slade School of Art (London, UK), the Tank (New York US), the Merz Akademie (Stuttgart, DE), the Barbican (London UK), La Casa Encendida (Madrid, ES), the A4 Cultural Centre (Bratislava SK), the Hayward Gallery (London UK), the Electron Festival (Geneva CH), Lovebytes Festival (Sheffield UK), Harvestworks (New York US), the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago US), and the Tate Modern (London UK).

Paul has exhibited internationally, including at the Whitney Museum of Modern Art, Whitechapel Gallery, HMKV, Witte de With Centre, Akademie der Kunste Berlin, New Museum of Contemporary Art, Tate Britain, International Film Festival Rotterdam, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Sonar Festival. Paul is also the only DJ to ever get thrown off stage at the Technics/DMC World DJ Championships.

Produces electronic music and has released recordings on Beige Records [USA], Mixpak Records [USA], Wobblyhead Records [USA], Lost Planet Editorial [USA], Sonic Arts Network [UK], Harmless Records [UK], Soundslike Records [UK], and Contact Records [Japan].

Publications and research outputs

Show/Exhibition

Davis, Paul. 2016. BEIGE Records Visual Archive. In: "Can You Hear Me? Music Labels by Visual Artists", Printed Matter, United States, 19 May - 19 June.

Davis, Paul. 2014. Art in Here. In: "The International Teletext Art Festival 2014", Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg, Berlin, Germany, 14 August - 14 September 2014.

Davis, Paul. 2014. Bring Your Own Bobby Brown. In: "AFTER/HOURS/DROP/BOX", Modern Art Oxford, United Kingdom, 2014.

Performance

Davis, Paul. 2020. Mr One Hundred. In: "Mr One Hundred", Various, United States, 2014 - 2020.

Audio

Davis, Paul. 2015. Calypso Fugitive.