Scott Blake
| Scott Blake | |
|---|---|
| Born | 20 October 1976 Tampa, Florida |
| Occupation | artist |
| Genres | new media |
| Literary movement | postmodernism, existentialism |
| Notable work(s) | Barcode Jesus, Downloading Pixels |
Scott Blake was born in Tampa, Florida in the autumn of 1976[1]. Nearing the turn of the millennium, Blake created a series of artworks that involved reworkings of barcodes to create artwork. Barcode art was something that quickly became an internet thread. It was largely unknown exactly where this fad had originated from. His work has been shown at various galleries and featured in magazines such as The New York Times, FHM and Adbusters. His site has also been translated in many languages. For his efforts and vision, he was recognized by the Adobe Design Achievement Awards. He currently lives in Omaha, Nebraska.
Similar to the works of Pop Art, Scott Blake elected to use usual everyday images to produce his art. His early works were based entirely on the idea of creating images and art from barcodes, which are ubiquitous in today’s world. But unlike Pop Art, he used barcodes as a tool and image, such as his portraits which were made entirely from bar codes. Blake had started this project around the time of the Y2K bug craze and the turn of the millennium. Around this time, there was a craze with barcode style artworks and designs. It is unclear whether Scott Blake had direct input on this popularized phenomena.
In 2003, Blake created Downloading Pixels which shows a progression of downloaded pixels that in turn become an image that could be viewed on a monitor or mobile device. Like John F. Simon Jr’s Every Icon, each pixel is an image that loads up at different intervals to make the image seem like an animation, caused by the changing pixels. Both Every Icon and Downloading Pixels use a system of algorithms with basic image data to form images. Visitors to the website can adjust the size of the overall image by selecting from many image sizes (such as 48x48, 192x192, 300x300, or a very large 972x972). There are also options for different styles, which define styles and colors. After the settings are adjusted, the image is then based on the browser technology, internet connection speed, and device. So this work looks differently on an iPhone as compared to a PC running Mozilla FireFox.
[edit] Honors
- Third Place Jury Award, Cathartic Art: Remembering September 11th, West Baton Rouge Museum, Port Allen, Louisiana, 2011.
- Best New Media Artist, Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards, Omaha, Nebraska, 2009.
- Semifinalist in Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery Outwin Boochever Competition, Washington, DC, 2008.
- Nominated in Weird & Wonderful category, Yahoo!UK - Finds of the Year, United Kingdom, 2005.
- Honorable Mention for Web Design, Adobe Design Achievement Awards, Guggenheim Museum in New York, New York, 2002.
- First Place for Creative Illustration, Adobe Design Achievement Awards, Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, California, 2001.
- Portfolio Scholarship from Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, Georgia, 2000.
- First Place Student's Choice Award in Printmaking in AAC Spring Show, San Francisco, California, 1999.
- Movie credits in the Disney Movie "Flubber" and Todd McFarlane’s "Spawn," 1998.
