Tim Gruchy’s career, spanning thirty plus years, is characterised by the exploration and composition of immersive and interactive multimedia installations, music and performance. He has exhibited multimedia works, photography, video, music and performance since the 1980s, and successfully intervened in public art arenas. He has been extensively involved in museum design and various projects at the intersection of architecture and multimedia. His works are held in private, corporate and museum collections.
In his first solo exhibition at Trish Clark Gallery, Gruchy presents five distinct conceptual projects both inspired by and ruminating upon his extensive interest in the nexus where science and art collide and overlap, how science fiction influences culture and its development, and considerations of public and private memory.
The exhibition’s title, Kade’s Cognition, indicates the depth and breadth of Gruchy’s thinking. It is a reference to the character Kaden Lane, a cognitive scientist from Nexus, 2012, by Ramez Naam (Egyptian-born, US-based computer scientist who specialises in the fields of web browsing, web search and artificial intelligence). Kade works on an experimental nano-drug, Nexus, which allows the brain to be programmed and networked, connecting human minds together. Cognition is the set of mental processes and abilities related to knowledge, attention, memory, judgment and evaluation, reasoning and “computation”, problem solving and decision making, comprehension and production of language, etc. Human cognition is conscious and unconscious, concrete or abstract, as well as intuitive and conceptual. Cognitive processes use existing knowledge and generate new knowledge. There is also some new thought suggesting epigenetics may play a role in cognition.
With an emotional range from punchy verging on anarchic to gentle resonances of memory, Gruchy’s exhibition, with a remarkably high degree of interactivity, promises to be a unique experience for every individual who visits.
Gruchy’s installations and exhibitions have featured in many international and Australasian institutions, festivals and public spaces, including the Biennale of Sydney (2012) (collaboration), Beijing 798 (2011), Shanghai Expo (2010), 2nd Asian Art Biennial Taiwan (2009), Melbourne International Arts Festival (2009), Adelaide Festival (1986-2008), Auckland Arts Festival (2009); Taranaki International Arts Festival (2007) and Sydney Festival (2004). His work has been exhibited in New Zealand, Australia, China, Taiwan, The Netherlands, Belgium, UK, US, Japan, France and Thailand.
Theatre and opera credits include Ainadamar, NZ Festival (2014) and Adelaide Festival (2008), AIDA, Sydney Opera House and touring Australia (2009-2013), and The Leningrad Symphony (2006). His visual designs have featured in works by Opera Australia, OzOpera, Sydney Theatre Company, Australian Dance Theatre, Strike Percussion and most recently Mau.
Gruchy has lectured and facilitated workshops in video art and interactive digital design at creative institutions around the world including Shanghai University (China); Future University of Hakodate (Japan); National Institute of Dramatic Art (Sydney); University of Technology Sydney; Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa; and Queensland University of Technology (Brisbane).
