Art, made with code, opens at London’s Barbican

July 02, 2014


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Author PhotoBy Paul Kinlan, Staff Developer Advocate and tinkerer

Good News Everybody! DevArt has officially opened at the Barbican’s Digital Revolution Exhibition, the biggest exploration of digital creativity ever staged in the UK.

(Images - Andrew Meredith)

Technology has long gone hand in hand with art and with DevArt we’re showcasing the developers who use technology as their canvas and code as their raw material to create innovative, interactive digital art installations. Karsten Schmidt, Zach Lieberman, and duo Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet, have been commissioned by Google and the Barbican for Digital Revolution. Alongside these three commissions, a fourth - Cyril Diagne and Beatrice Lartigue - were handpicked as a result of DevArt’s global initiative to discover the interactive artists of tomorrow. You can also see their incredible art online and through our exhibition launch film here:


Play the World, 2014. Zach Lieberman [View on Github]
Using Google Compute Engine, Google Maps Geolocation API and openFrameworks, Zach has been able to find musical notes from hundreds of live radio stations around the world, resulting in a unique geo-orientated piece of music every time a visitor plays the piano at the centre of the piece.


Image by Andrew Meredith

Wishing Wall, 2014, Varvara Guljajeva & Mar Canet [View on Github]
Taking advantage of Google Compute Engine, Web Speech API, Chrome Apps, openFrameworks and node.js, Varvara and Mar are able to capture a whispered wish, and let you watch it transform before your eyes, allowing you to reach out and let it land on your hand.

Image by Andrew Meredith

Co(de) Factory, 2014, Karsten Schmidt [View on Github]
Android, Google Cloud Platform, Google Closure Compiler, WebGL, WebSockets, and YouTube have been combined by Karsten to allow anybody to create art and become an artist. It empowers people by giving them the tools to create, and offers them the chance to have their digital piece fabricated in 3D and showcased in the exhibition.

Image by Andrew Meredith

Les Métamorphoses de Mr. Kalia, 2014, Béatrice Lartigue and Cyril Diagne [View on Github]
Android, Chrome Apps, Google App Engine, node.js, openFrameworks have enabled Béatrice and Cyril to create tracking technology that transforms movement into a visual performance where visitors take on the persona of Mr. Kalia, a larger-than-life animated character, that undergoes a series of surreal changes while following your every movement.

Image by Andrew Meredith

DevArt will tour the world with the Digital Revolution Exhibition for up to five years following the Barbican show in London.

Soon we’re also starting our DevArt Young Creators program — an education component of DevArt designed to inspire a new generation of coders — each led by the DevArt interactive artists. Developed alongside the UK’s new computing curriculum, the workshops have been designed especially for students aged 9-13 years who have never tried coding before. Each workshop will be developed into lesson plans in-line with the UK’s new national computing curriculum, and distributed to educators by arts and technology organisations.

Paul Kinlan is a Developer Advocate in the UK on the Chrome team specialising on mobile. He lives in Liverpool and loves trying to progress the city's tech community from places like DoES Liverpool hack-space.

Posted by Louis Gray, Googler