The 0xCollection is a private

contemporary art Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a ...

institution An institution is a humanly devised structure of rules and norms that shape and constrain social behavior. All definitions of institutions generally entail that there is a level of persistence and continuity. Laws, rules, social conventions and ...

based in

Basel, Switzerland Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's third-most-populous city (after Zurich and Geneva), with ...

, founded in 2023 with the support of philanthropist and entrepreneur

Karel Komárek Karel Komárek (born 15 March 1969) is a Czech businessman worth $9.4 billion as of March 2024. He is one of the wealthiest Czech citizens and the founder of the investment company KKCG. Personal life Komárek was born in Hodonín, Czech Republi ...

, under the direction of curator and cultural strategist Elle Anastasiou. The collection is dedicated to the development and preservation of new media artworks, dating from 1960 to the present. In September 2023, the collection presented its inaugural public

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibiti ...

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, displaying a commissioned work by

Refik Anadol Refik Anadol (born November 7, 1985) is a Turkish media artist and the co-founder of Refik Anadol Studio and Dataland. Recognized as a pioneer in the aesthetics of data visualization and AI arts, his work merges art, technology, science, and a ...

and a show of 8 leading contemporary artists. In 2024, the 0xCollection partnered with the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

Washington DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

to present the federal institution's first digital art exhibition.

History

Directed and co-founded by curator and cultural strategist Elle Anastasiou, the 0xCollection was created as a permanent institution for an expanding collection, with the intent to bring exhibitions to the public through international exhibitions and via digital platforms. Pronounced 'hex collection', the name 0xCollection comes from shorthand for hexadecimal code, a system used to signify colours in digital files. The first artwork to be acquired by the collection was by Turkish-American artist Refik Anadol. The data sculpture, Dvořák Dreams, followed a 2 year commission process including research supported by the 0xCollection. Its initial presentation was on the occasion of the

Dvořák Prague International Music Festival Prague Autumn International Music Festival (1991–2008) was the second largest classical music festival in Prague held annually in Prague Rudolfinum in September. It was organised under the auspices of Václav Klaus, president of the Czech Republ ...

, at the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

-listed

Rudolfinum The Rudolfinum is a building in Prague, Czech Republic. It is designed in the neo-Renaissance style and is situated on Jan Palach Square on the bank of the river Vltava. Since its opening in 1885, it has been associated with music and art. C ...

in Prague,

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. The inaugural exhibition by the 0xCollection, ''Synthetic Immersion'', included additional artists, including

Ryoji Ikeda Ryoji Ikeda (池田亮司 ''Ikeda Ryōji'', born 1966) is a Japanese Visual arts, visual and sound artist who currently lives and works in Paris, France. Ikeda's music is concerned primarily with sound in a variety of "raw" states, such as sine ...

Carsten Nicolai Carsten Nicolai (born 18 September 1965 in Karl-Marx-Stadt, now Chemnitz) is a German artist, musician and label owner. As a musician he is known under the pseudonym Alva Noto. Life and career Carsten Nicolai was born in Karl-Marx-Stadt (now Ch ...

LuYang Luyang District () is one of four urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Hefei, the capital of Anhui Province, East China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of Chin ...

, Libby Heaney,

Nancy Baker Cahill Nancy Baker Cahill (born 1970) is an American new media artist based in Los Angeles, California.Selvin, Claire"Who Will Shape the Art World in 2021?: ARTnews Presents 'The Deciders', Nancy Davis Cahill,"''ARTnews'', December 1, 2020. Retrieved 20 ...

, Sougwen Chung, QUAYOLA, and

Daito Manabe (born 1976) is a Japanese media artist, programmer, engineer, and DJ who creates artwork and interactive installations that utilize contemporary technologies such as virtual reality as well as prominent use of light and sound. He founded Rhiz ...

. The exhibition was curated as an examination of

synesthesia Synesthesia (American English) or synaesthesia (British English) is a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. People with sy ...

, the

neurological Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous system, which comprises the brain, the s ...

state in which one sense is perceived by another, and the possibility of new media art to provide immersive experiences for art audiences. The 0xCollection produced a landmark collaboration with the federal John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in late 2024 - marking both the collection's US debut and the Center's first digital art exhibition.

Collection and exhibitions

The 0xCollection specialises in the collection and display of new media art, including

video installations Video installation is a contemporary art form that combines video technology with installation art, making use of all aspects of the surrounding environment to affect the audience. Tracing its origins to the birth of video art in the 1970s, it has ...

sound installations Sound art is an artistic activity in which sound is utilized as a primary time-based medium or material. Like many genres of contemporary art, sound art may be interdisciplinary in nature, or be used in hybrid forms. According to Brandon LaBell ...

and multimedia sculpture. Works in the collection include contributions by both blue-chip and emerging artists. Each of the museum's exhibitions feature a select capsule of works, grouped around a curatorial theme. Pieces from the collection are also loaned to public institutions, including the Kennedy Center in 2024. The institution's staff is made up of an international network artists, technologists and curators, in addition to support personnel.

References

{{reflist Private collections in Switzerland Contemporary art galleries 2023 establishments in Switzerland