New York comes to Perth on Saturday, 3 February 2007. The meeting point is Threshold artspace – the contemporary art gallery at the threshold of Perth Concert Hall. The occasion is Fresh NY – an exhibition which showcases seven of the most exciting young artists working with animation and digital media in the New York region—most of whose work is being seen in Scotland and the UK for the first time. Fresh NY's guest curator is Anne Barlow, a Scot based in New York , previously at the New Museum of Contemporary Art and just appointed Executive Director of Art in General – one of New York's leading not-for profit arts organisations.

"Reflecting current tendencies in contemporary digital art", states Barlow, "Fresh NY includes an intriguing mix of projects, from beautifully crafted animations to hypnotic, computer-generated visuals, and work inspired by gaming culture”.

"Fresh NY also adds a vibrant group of international work to Scotland’s only permanent collection of digital art at the Threshold artspace, which I understand has acquired over 60 works in less than 2 years"

"I am very pleased to welcome Anne as our first guest curator at the Threshold artspace", says Iliyana Nedkova, Creative Director New Media at Horsecross who is responsible for curating the artspace. "What is more, this is Anne's first public appearance in the UK in more than 7 years since she moved to New York and I believe that we will continue working with her in the future"

The public preview of Fresh NY also compliments Bang on a Can – New York's electric chamber ensemble who performs in the concert hall throughout the day including music by Stephen Reich, Philip Glass and Brian Eno. After the all day long public preview, the works featured in Fresh NY will become part of the Threshold artspace collection and shown regularly as part of the daily programmes.

Fresh NY is produced by Horsecross for the Threshold artspace with support from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and in partnership with Art in General, New York and the University of Dundee.

More about the works in Fresh NY

Brent Green, a self-taught animated filmmaker, presents Hadacol Christmas, a strange and haunting story about Mr. Claus who is addicted to Hadacol cough syrup. While aspects of Green’s work conjure up early Walt Disney drawings, the dark animations of Tim Burton, or Appalachian folk-tales, this short film remains a highly personal production.

Together with Green, the artists Tom Moody and Michael Bell-Smith share a love of the 'lo-fi”, but their influences come more from their immediate 'graphic landscape' of mobile phone visual displays, urban media screens, and web page advertisements.

Tom Moody proudly creates low-tech art with standard off-the-shelf products such as simple paint programmes, photocopiers and consumer printers. The Threshold Wave goes franticly busy with Moody's tiny animated GIFs now scaled up to optical art proportions. Moody belongs to a current generation of artists, who use those twinkling and often irritating image files that draw your attention on a web page, known as GIFs, in playful or ironic ways.

Michael Bell-Smith also operates in the gap between 'smooth' or low-tech aesthetics; animated cartoons and painting with unusual effectiveness Much of his work is created by sampling and manipulating images from the Internet. As part of Fresh NY he presents Some Houses Have Pools – a dreamlike aerial view of an endless suburbia, devoid of any specific narrative. Bell-Smith's main concern is color, space and light, tweaked and amplified by digital technology and restrained animation.

Alisa Andrasek's work The Invisibles makes its debut on an extra large scale at the Threshold Wave of 22 screens. It consists of swirling and mesmeric 3D cells scripted in animation software. Andrasek, who principally works in the field of architecture, is interested in creating what she calls a “pattern intelligence” – which can be applied to surfaces and forms in architecture, design, and fashion.

Takeshi Murata pushes the boundaries of animation and psychedelia with sophisticated code-based image processing. Recreated as a hypnotic 22 screen installation Monster Movie is one of his most celebrated video work. Its lead character is a B-movie Yeti who decomposes and reconstitutes thirty times per second, becoming a seething, digital morass of color and form. “Murata’s particular genius is an almost alchemical ability to transform forgotten relics of pop culture into dazzling jewels” comments the American art journal Artforum.

Brody Condon's widely acclaimed work Karma Physics < Elvis is a tongue-in cheek, self-playing version of the popular computer game Unreal 2003. As the viewer's camera floats through an infinite pink afterlife, multiples of Elvis are controlled by 'Karma Physics' – the original game's engine used to simulate realistic game character death. Condon's work represents a highlight in the art games series showing on the Threshold Stage all year round.

Prema Murthy uses numerical information and video as a sculpting tool. As part of Fresh NY the artist presents an especially re-worked short film starring some of her strange creatures. The bodies integrate and disintegrate according to their fluctuating data values. Murthy's tool is a 3D modelling software programme and her skills involve sifting through tons of digital data such as immigration patterns, effects of global warming, and consumer spending.

Fresh NY exhibition
Alisa Andrasek, Michael Bell-Smith, Brody Condon, Brent Green, Tom Moody, Takeshi Murata, and Prema Murthy guest curated by Anne Barlow

Public preview 11am-9pm, Saturday, 3 February 2007, Admission FREE at Threshold artspace, Perth Concert Hall, Horsecross, Mill Street, Perth

Anne Barlow: Curator's Talk 11am, Wednesday, 31 January 2007, Admission FREE off-site at Dundee Contemporary Arts, 152 Nethergate, Dundee.

Also on view at Threshold artspace

On arrival (and departure) at Threshold Welcome you can activate our latest Horsecross commission: Matt Green's Time Machines. This is an interactive audioscape inspired by sci-fi movies such as Star Trek and Blade Runner.

On view (and for sale) at Tay Suite is Susan Collins' Glenlandia The Four Seasons – the first artist's limited edition produced by Horsecross available as inkjet prints on archival paper in an edition of 20, 13.5 x 18 cm, £200 each or £700 for a set of four unframed.

More about Bang on a Can All-Stars

Bang on a Can All-Stars, Perth Concert Hall, Saturday 3 February 12.30
– 4.30pm. Day ticket £15: £12 concessions + £5 student.

Performances will happen throughout the afternoon, leaving you free to drop in and out, take in the Fresh NY programme, pause for a drink or a meal, or just take in the whole thing. To book call 0845 612 6319 or
log onto www.horsecross.co.uk

Free Shuttle Bus

For those of you visiting or residing in Edinburgh – a free shuttle bus will be departing from Edinburgh at 10:30am on Saturday 3 February, arriving in Perth in time for the Bang on a Can All-Stars performance and Fresh NY preview. The bus returns to Edinburgh for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s evening concert at the Queen’s Hall, and travels
back to Perth after the concert. Free bus tickets can be booked through Perth Concert Hall or the Queen’s Hall and are free to ticket holders of either concert. Advance booking essential.

Threshold artspace, Perth Concert Hall, Horsecross, Mill Street, Perth, PH1 5HZ, 0845 612 6319, info@horsecross.co.uk, www.horsecross.co.uk Scotland’s first dedicated gallery for digital public art, with nine
unique spaces presenting a varied programme of artists’ films, videos, editions, games, text, photography, performance, light, sound and software art.