Cyber space: Accessible art for the internet age

London – The Space is an apt description for what will surely become one of the world’s most visited art galleries.

A joint venture between the Arts Council of England and the BBC, The Space is a website for new digital artworks by world-renowned and lesser-known artists. Every week a new artist’s work will be unveiled on the free site. As the collection grows, The Space will become the place for free accessible art – providing artists and visitors with a means of participation. As well as new commissions weekly, the site will feature daily news and debates aimed at opening up the conversation about art.

‘It is an R&D laboratory, inventing new art and maybe new art forms, and sharing the experiment as it happens with the public,’ says Ruth Mackenzie, The Space interim launch director. ‘What an amazing opportunity for all of us to try to see into the future.’

The Space was launched with a 24-hour hackathon in the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern last weekend, with the short brief to ‘take any form of data and transform it into a creative digital artwork’. The hackathon also signalled the launch of The Space’s open call for artwork to be featured on its virtual walls.

For more on the digital art gallery phenomenon, see our Seed on The Wrong and our Inform with Robert Norton of S[edition].