Timo Toots (born 15 September 1982, in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...

) is an Estonian artist, mainly active in the field of

interactive art Interactive art is a form of art that involves the spectator in a way that allows the art to achieve its purpose. Some interactive art installations achieve this by letting the observer walk through, over or around them; others ask the artist ...

and

new media art New media art includes artworks designed and produced by means of new media, electronic media technology, technologies, comprising virtual art, computer graphics, computer animation, digital art, interactive art, sound art, Internet art, video g ...

. He is also the founder of project space Maajaam in

Otepää Otepää (formerly Nuustaku) is a town in Valga County, southern Estonia, it is the administrative centre of Otepää Parish. Otepää is a popular skiing resort, popularly known as the "winter capital" of Estonia (in contrast to the "summer ca ...

Biography

Before becoming active as an artist Toots studied at the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

and

Estonian Academy of Arts The Estonian Academy of Arts ( Estonian: ''Eesti Kunstiakadeemia'', EKA) is the only public university in Estonia providing higher education in art, design, architecture, media, art history and conservation-restoration. It is based in Tallinn. Ac ...

. Besides a series of group exhibition participations he has done several solo exhibitions in

Le Lieu Unique The lieu unique is a center for contemporary culture located in Nantes, France. Opened at the beginning of the 21st century, it is housed in a former biscuit factory at the center of the city. It was founded by Jean Blaise, directed by Patrick Gyg ...

in Nantes, France (2014), Tartu Artist House, Memopolis at

Edith-Russ-Haus The Edith-Russ-Haus für Medienkunst ("Edith Russ House") is an art gallery in the city of Oldenburg, Gurkaran Singh, Germany, dedicated to new media art. The gallery was founded due to an endowment from Edith Russ, a secondary school teacher in ...

, Oldenburg, Germany, Memopol-1 at Y-Gallery, Tartu, Estonia, and Memopol-1 at Hobusepea Gallery,

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

. KUMU Art Museum in Tallinn owns his artwork Soodevahe.

Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie The ZKM , Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe (until March 2016: ZKM Center for Art and Media Technology), a cultural institution, was founded in 1989. and since 1997 is located in a listed industrial building in Karlsruhe, Germany, a former muni ...

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

owns his art work Media Bubble. For Memopol Toots was awarded in 2012 with the

Prix Ars Electronica The Prix Ars Electronica is one of the best known and longest running yearly prizes in the field of electronic and interactive art, computer animation, digital culture and music. It has been awarded since 1987 by Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria) ...

in the section interactive art. In the same year he received an award from the

Cultural Endowment of Estonia Cultural Endowment of Estonia ( et, Eesti Kultuurkapital, abbreviated ''Kulka'' or ''KULKA''; also translated as ''Estonian Cultural Capital'') is an Estonian foundation which supports activities related to Estonian culture. The foundation was es ...

. In 2013 he founded the project space Maajaam in Otepää, Estonia. This country side art space is focused on

media art New media art includes artworks designed and produced by means of electronic media technologies, comprising virtual art, computer graphics, computer animation, digital art, interactive art, sound art, Internet art, video games, robotics, 3D prin ...

site specific art Site-specific art is artwork created to exist in a certain place. Typically, the artist takes the location into account while planning and creating the artwork. Site-specific art is produced both by commercial artists, and independently, and can ...

sound art Sound art is an artistic activity in which sound is utilized as a primary 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 LaBelle, sound art ...

runs an

artist-in-residence Artist-in-residence, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...

program.

References

Timo Toots bio on haus-ek

at European Media Art Festival Osnaburck
German newspaper Kreiszeitung about Memopol

Dutch article about Memopol
on

Bits of Freedom Bits Of Freedom is an independent Dutch digital rights foundation, which focuses on privacy and communications freedom in the digital age. The foundation protects the right for privacy and the right to communications freedom in the Netherlands. Bits ...

Article
on

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publishe ...

External links

timo.ee

maajaam.ee
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toots, Timo 1982 births Living people 21st-century Estonian male artists New media artists Installation artists Estonian Academy of Arts alumni University of Tartu alumni People from Tartu