AUTOICON is a dynamic internet work that simulates both the physical presence and elements of the creative personality of the artist Donald Rodney who – after initiating the project – died from sickle-cell anaemia in March 1998. The project builds on Donald Rodney’s artistic practice in his later years, when he increasingly began to delegate key roles in the organisation and production of his artwork. Making reference to this working process, AUTOICON is developed by a close group of friends and artists (ironically described as ‘Donald Rodney plc’) who have acted as an advisory and editorial board in the artist’s absence, and who specified the rules by which the ‘automated’ aspects of the project operate.
Donald Rodney: AUTOICON
01 Jan 2000Donald Rodney - AUTOICON is a multifaceted record of his body (a body of medical data and a body that will remain active in cyberspace) as well as an attempt to encapsulate his creative mind. A version of the project has been developed as a CD-ROM capable of communicating with the web version.
