After wrapping up the 12th annual international projection festival, held May 17-18, at Alys Beach, FL, Digital Graffiti has announced its winners—including “Best of Show”, “Curators Choice”, and three commendatory “Special Recognition” awards.
The festival, sponsored by Christie, the global visual and audio solutions company, welcomed 30 local, national, and international artists to the Scenic Highway 30A in South Walton County to showcase original digital artwork on the iconic white walls of the Alys Beach community.   Winning the highest honor was, “Best of Show,” with his piece “Wanton Boys,” was Ian Gouldstone of London, UK. “’Wanton Boys’ is quintessential Digital Graffiti” says Digital Graffiti curator Brett Phares. “As the piece guides you, walking towards the bridge and then over Lake Marilyn, the simple but generative Xs easily capture each viewer’s imagination. It’s colorful, vibrant and playful—even self-wise about boundaries and how to work with them—the work represents the best that the festival has always gravitated towards and wants in its future.”
The complete list of winners includes:
- Best of Show ($5,000 prize): Ian Gouldstone, London, United Kingdom “Wanton Boys”
- Curator’s Choice ($2,000 prize): Kazuki Ozone, Daichi Saito, Chihiro Noguchi, Kai Naito, Tokyo, Japan, “emoji and pixel”
- Special Recognition ($1,000 prizes):
- Jonah Allen, Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, “Coastal Dune Lake Outfalls”
- Ehsan Atiq, Savannah, Georgia, “The Sublime within Islam”
- Fair Brane, Los Angeles, California, “Centered”
“I love the challenge that exists at the heart of Digital Graffiti,” says Gouldstone. “Alys Beach has such a strong presence, both architecturally and culturally, and any art situated there must match or somehow navigate that strength in order to live. I was proud to be one of many artists who rose to that challenge and thrilled to win Best of Show.” With the judges’ pick for Curator’s Choice, Phares says, ““emoji + pixel” is another example of an approachable work that transgresses our expectations, bringing us a world that begins in a blocky two-bit flat environment and delivers us to a full-color expression of the everyday (from full bodied lips, dancers, and fields of grain, to a brief reference to the popular book and TV series Game of Thrones. All interest is compelled further by a captivating music score and an outdoor couch to take it all in.” The juried festival, led by curator Brett Phares, included a panel of art and industry experts to select the final winners. The judge panel consisted of Florida State University College of Communication research associate and adjunct instructor Lucia Fishburne, journalist Evan Narcisse, executive director at New Orleans Film Society Fallon Young, RealMotion director Geoffrey Platt, and architect Marieanne Khoury-Vogt of Khoury & Vogt Architects. In addition to the juried competition, a group of artists were selected to participate in this year’s Visiting Artist Residency to create large-scale pieces at Digital Graffiti: 2018 Best of Show winner, Jessica Van Zee with AOA Builds out of Winter Park, Florida; Tamiko Thiel & Peter Graf of Munich, Germany; and Kaiman Walker from Los Angeles. The festival was powered by industry leading Christie technology – including festival projectors, content management, switching and distribution and technical support, as well as the sponsorship of each of the 2019 Artists in Residence. This year’s festival marked Christie’s third year as the technology sponsor. “Christie’s sponsorship of Digital Graffiti is marked by an inspired use of our technology, which pushes the boundaries of what’s possible for projected artwork,” says Arlonna Seymour, Senior Director, Corporate Marketing, Christie. “This year’s use of interactive elements coupled with projection mapping made for a very exciting competition.” For more information about the festival, please visit digitalgraffiti.com.
