Sam Smith (artist)
Sam Smith (born 1980) is a contemporary Australian filmmaker and artist, and the Co-Director of Obsidian Coast with Nella Aarne. He lives and works in Bradford-on-Avon, UK. Querying the manipulations inherent in moving image capture and production, his work brings documentary and archival content in contact with speculative narratives to render visible the connective charges between geological formations, architectural apertures, (cinematic) histories, paranormal entities and unimagined futures. Smith's films, video installations and live desktop performances have has been presented at numerous international art institutions and film festivals including International Film Festival Rotterdam, Kassel  Documentary Film and Video Festival, Kai Art Center (Tallinn), Gotland Konstmuseet and Sörmlands Museum (Sweden), Whitechapel Gallery and Institute of Contemporary Arts (London), Moscow International Experimental Film Festival, Les Rencontres Internationales (Paris and Berlin), Tai Kwun Centre for Heritage and Arts (Hong Kong) De Appel Arts Centre (Amsterdam) E-WERK (Freiburg), Riga International Short Film Festival 2ANNAS, Kunsthal Charlottenborg (Copenhagen), The Telfer Gallery for Glasgow International 2016, Centro de Artes Visuais (Portugal), Australian Centre for Moving Image (Melbourne), KW Institute for Contemporary Art (Berlin) and the Art Gallery of NSW (Sydney). Obsidian Coast. Sam Smith is the Co-Director of  Obsidian Coast with Nella Aarne. Obsidian Coast is a contemporary art space for unhurried artistic and curatorial practice outside the city proper, envisioned as an otherworldly destination opening unforeseeable horizons. It hosts exhibitions, residencies, events and a library project with a commitment to artist moving image and environmentally sustainable and feminist practice. Built upon a desire to approach, stay with and transform in the presence of others, the space is envisaged as a coastal ecosystem, in which ever-shifting assemblages constitute a resonant web of ideas and ways of being. On this mythical coast, the ethics of the most intimate  interactions that compose everyday life constitute the fundamental conditions from which to pursue sensitive approaches to research, practice and political thought. Giving space for unhurried development of ideas and co-emergence of multiple perspectives in lasting encounters, the coast is a life-affirming abode for gathering with principles of care and generosity. Education. Smith graduated from the MFA in Fine Art course at Goldsmiths, University of London in 2015. He completed a BFA with Honours at the College of Fine Arts, Sydney in 2003. Awards and prizes. In 2014 Smith was awarded both the Goldsmiths International Postgraduate Scholarship and the  Ian Potter Cultural Trust. From the Australia Council Visual Arts Board he received a Skills and Arts Development grant in 2012 and was twice the recipient of a New Work grant (2007 and 2010). In 2007 Smith received the Helen Lempriere Travelling Art Scholarship to undertake a series of artist mentorships in New York City and Berlin. He also won the inaugural 2008 Wilson HTM National Art Prize, the 2008 churchie national emerging art prize and was a finalist in the inaugural Premier of Queensland's National New Media Art Award. The artist has undertaken a number of residencies. He  was part of the International Studio Programme for one year at Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin. Previous residencies include Helsinki International Artist Programme; Artspace, Sydney; and Youkobo Art Space in Tokyo, Japan.