Aitken's body of work spans photography, sculpture, architectural interventions, films, sound, and video installations. His pieces have been showcased in numerous solo and group exhibitions globally, within esteemed institutions. Aitken explores contemporary society and its intricate relationship with technology and media. His art often reflects on visual culture and the way we perceive the world.
"For 30 days this summer, Doug Aitken's project Station to Station: A 30 Day Happening, takes over the Barbican Centre with more than 100 free events over 30 days, with special ticketed events every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. This 'living exhibition', brings together a fusion of leading international and UK-based artists from the world of contemporary art, music, dance, graphic design and film in a jam-packed programme." -- Barbican website.
"Broken Screen is a manifesto for navigating the future of communication. In twenty-six candid conversations, this book gives insight into the personal thoughts and motivations of leading artists, filmmakers, and architects as they discuss art-making in an increasingly fragmented world. Drawing on a rich array of cultural references and personal anecdotes, Broken Screen illuminates the ways in which the moving image and the shifting nature of perception provide pivotal sources of inspiration across a range of creative disciplines. With its focus on alternatives to linear storytelling, this book offers a dialogue about ways to advance creative expression."--Jacket
The installation "Electric Earth," debuted at the 1999 Venice Biennale, brought international recognition to the video and media artist Doug Aitkin. In the piece, a dancer roams a transitory realm of wasted landscapes. Aitken, whose protagonists are usually natural landscapes and cityscapes, here links the electrified structures of our urban world with the nervous system of the human body. The piece, with its pop-surrealist overtones, also reveals Aitken's roots as a director of music videos. This artist's book, laid out in a landscape format, presents fascinating views of natural and urban lanscapes and structures from the video. Gijs van Tuyl, in his essay, writes, "You don't have to look through it passively from A to Z...it offers up a space in which the reader can move freely...in order to create a story in the here and now, in the flow of time."