Adapting: Michael Candy

Grantee Michael Candy’s practice spans kinetic and new media art. Through technology, he explores social, cultural and ecological issues.

Michael was supported by a Cultural Trust grant to undertake the first year of study as part of the inaugural cohort of the Masters of 4D Design at Cranbrook Academy of Art, Detroit. The course encourages interdisciplinary practice across all major subjects, including 4D Design, which focuses on interaction design, robotics and media art.

At the beginning of his second semester of study, the onset of COVID-19 precipitated the closure of the campus. Before returning to Australia and completing the semester remotely, Michael rushed to resolve a prototype work that he was developing. Michael continues to keep in contact with the Cranbrook Academy community and staff while pursuing his practice in Australia.

“Australia is blessed when it comes to the arts. I now know firsthand that institutions in the States are much less adaptive than our creative industries. After my return, I gained a handful of much smaller projects as galleries and museums spread their funding to create COVID-19 compliant digital works. It has actually been a really inspiring period in some regards, and I hope others could say the same.”