News Archive 2009
Clore Leadership Short Course
Blast Theory's Executive Producer Julianne Pierce has been selected to attend a 2-week residential Clore Leadership Short Courses in March 2010. Recognised as the foremost cultural leadership training programme in the UK, Clore Leadership provides intensive personal development, an examination of the nature of good leadership and an introduction to key areas of expert knowledge essential to effective cultural leadership.
Rider Spoke Liverpool
A site specific adaptation of Rider Spoke by Blast Theory with Liverpool artists Lorena Rivero de Beer and Venya Krutikov is in the Space Invaders: Art and the Computer Game Environment at FACT from 18 December - 21 February.
http://fact.co.uk/whatson/
Ulrike and Eamon Compliant book and video
The book features a foreword by Alan Haydon, Director of the De La Warr Pavilion and an essay by Richard Grayson. It also includes images and documentation of the work in Venice.
Mixing jump cuts, brash titles and Vietnamese hip hop from Onra, the video plays fast and loose with the events in Venice. It was shot by Becky Edmunds and edited by Blast Theory.
The book and the video are both available to purchase through our website here.
Artist in residence - David Fryer
David Fryer studied Textiles at Goldsmiths and Design at the Royal College of Art and now creates time-based and permanent public art works, gallery exhibitions and group exhibitions. Most recently applying gold leaf to shrapnel wounds from WW2 on a wall on the North side of Tower Bridge and impaling the severed heads of bankers on spikes on London Bridge, re-enacting a 15th century tradition.
He co-curated the exhibition ‘God is Bored of Us’ featuring artists such as Tracey Emin and Sarah Lucas as well as being commissioned by the photographer Rankin to produce a piece entitled ‘God Thinking When We Are Sleeping’ which was shown at the Baltic in Gateshead.
David will be in residence at 20 Wellington Road for 6 weeks.
Artist in residence - Sheila Ghelani
Sheila Ghelani is a London based interdisciplinary
artist working in performance and film. She has worked extensively with Pacitti Company and Blast Theory as an associate artist.
Sheila's will be developing ideas for a new performance film and also working on a commission for Cecilia Wee during her residency. We are very pleased to have Sheila working here and her residency is part of an ongoing relationship with Blast Theory that will continue into the new year.
http://sheilaghelani.co.uk
Workshop in Amsterdam on 8th December
Matt Adams will give a workshop exploring the impact of locative media on the museum and heritage sector in Amsterdam on 8th December as part of The Mobile City.
www.themobilecity.nl/2009
Videos in Iraqi-Kurdistan
As part of the Live Art Development Agency's Live Art in the UK programme, documentation of Blast Theory's work was recently shown at the Post War Arts and Culture Festival in Sulaymanaya in Iraqi-Kurdistan.
Full details about the festival at www.artrole.org
Residency programme deadline 31st January 2010
Blast Theory is currently calling for applications for the
20 Wellington Road Residency Programme, for the period 2009 – 2011. Applications are invited from individuals working in the following fields:
- Pervasive & location based gaming & interactive media
- Mobile & portable devices in cultural & artistic practice
- Games design and theory
- Interdisciplinary and live art practice
The deadline for applications is January 31, 2010. Further details and an application form are available here
Kidnap project on Canadian Broadcast Channel
Matt Adams discusses kidnapping people as part of a 5 minute interview about scaring people. It's at the end of the 60 minute programme.
http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/
Ju Row Farr lecture at Birkbeck college
Ju Row Farr will be presenting a lecture at Birbeck College, University of London on the MA Arts Policy Course titled The Arts and Cultural/Creative Industries on Tuesday 17th November.
SPIELART Festival Munich
Julianne Pierce is giving a lecture on the work of Blast Theory at the SPIELART Festival in Munich on Monday 30th November at 7pm.
SPIELART is an international festival of contemporary theatre art. It presents artists who are willing to risk something, who use sensuality, humor and intelligence to express what is special, lively and surprising in the theatre art form.
More information
Studio space available at 20 Wellington Road
One newly refurbished studio space is currently available for rent at the Blast Theory Building in Portslade, Brighton.
We are looking for tenants who work in similar fields to Blast Theory:
• Small companies or start up businesses working in mobile technologies or games
• Artists working with digital media
• Live Artists working in contemporary performance practice.
We are offering long-term leases of at least 12 months, but short-term leases and shared spaces may also be available.
For full details please download the pdf here
Blast Theory in the New York Times
Ulrike and Eamon Compliant features in Peter Wayner's article on new forms of gaming in the New York Times.
To read the article click here.
Ava 4 Ever
Channel 4 Education is supporting the development of 'Ava 4 Ever', an interactive band diary for SMS aimed at teenagers. Blast Theory is working with renowned writer Tony White, author of the 2003 novel 'Foxy-T' which captured the "voice of the modern city".
20 Wellington Road in Vogue
Polly Borland recently shot some photos in our studios for Bella Freud's new range featuring Susie Bick.
www.vogue.co.uk/blogs/the-vogue-blog
Article on Pervasive Games in The Independent
Matt Adams' article on Pervasive Games appeared in The Independent supplement covering Sheffield's Doc/Fest.
Locative Cinema Commission
Blast Theory has been awarded the first ever Locative Cinema Commission. The commission is an initiative of Banff New Media Institute, ZER01 01SJ Biennial and Sundance Film Festival.
The commission will commence with a residency at Banff New Media Institute in summer 2010 followed by the premiere at the ZER01 01SJ Biennial in San Jose in September 2010. The work will then be shown at the 2011 edition of New Frontier at the Sundance Film Festival and the 2011 Banff Summer Arts Festival.
To view the announcement made by the commissioners on October 28th 2009, please see the following link
www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease
Andy Field Artist Talk at 20 Wellington Road
Current Artist in Residence Andy Field will be giving an Artist Talk on Wednesday 11th November from 6.30pm - 8pm.
During his six-week residency, Andy has been experimenting with performance and interactive techniques. He has used the time to develop a new piece with the working title 'First and Second Wilderness'. In his Artist Talk, Andy will discuss his current work and the experience of his Artist in Residence programme.
Admission is free and all are welcome. For further details and to RSVP email dan@blasttheory.co.uk
New film commission for LADA online
The Live Art Development Agency (LADA) is celebrating its tenth anniversary through a special series of projects including ten commissions of short films about and around Live Art that will be posted online each month throughout 2009.
The ten artists who are making anniversary films have all had some kind of relationship with the Agency over the last ten years, as One to One Bursary artists, as contributors to Agency programmes and publications, or as DIY projects leaders, to name but a few.
Blast Theory has been invited to make a short film, which is online for the month of November. The film is called 'So, err...' and can be viewed here
www.thisisliveart.co.uk/projects/tenth_year/film
Flypad now open at The Public
Flypad is a new commission for the Public Gallery in West Bromwich (United Kingdom) which opened in August 2009.
For more detail on Flypad visit the project page here
www.thepublic.com
Outside Broadcast
Blast Theory is the lead partner in a project to develop a prototype for interactive outside broadcasting. The project is funded by a Technology Strategy Board Creative Industries Fast-Track grant and we are working with the Mixed Reality Lab (University of Nottingham) and crossplatform production company Somethin' Else.
Blast Theory win Brighton and Hove Business Award
We are very pleased to announce that we won a Brighton and Hove Business Award in the category of Most Awesome Use of Digital Media at Friday's award ceremony.
www.bahbas.org.uk
Aritst in Residence - Andy Field
London based artist Andy Field is currently in residence at 20 Wellington Rd. Andy is a theatremaker specialising in interactive experiences. He will be in residence for seven weeks, researching several new project ideas.
New intern
Blast Theory is pleased to welcome a new intern, Tim Williams. With an MA in Art History, Tim will be working with the company on archiving, publications and admin support.
Matt Adams at Netzkulturen in Munich
Matt will present two recent projects - You Get Me and Ulrike and Eamon Compliant - at the Netzkulturen conference on Sunday 11th October
www.networking.theaterwissenschaft.uni-muenchen.de
'You Get Me' finalist in IndieCade
'You Get Me' is a finalist in IndieCade, games festival in Culver City, California October 1st - 4th. IndieCade supports independent game development and organises a series of international events showcasing the future of independent games.
www.indiecade.com/
Brighton and Hove Business Awards
Blast Theory is a finalist in two categories of the Brighton and Hove Business Awards - The Most Awesome Use of Digital Media and The Creative Industries Award. Winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony on 9th October.
www.bahbas.org.uk
Wired Sussex Intern
Gearóid Conlon has joined Blast Theory for six weeks through the Wired Sussex Intern programme. Gearóid recently graduated from University of Brighton in Digital Media Design and will be working with Blast Theory on design and 3D modeling for several current projects.
Article in Leonardo
Leonardo has published "When Presence & Absence Turn Into Pattern & Randomness: Can You See Me Now?" by Maria Chatzichristodoulou.
www.leonardo.info
Josephine Starrs and Leon Cmielewski in residence
Blast Theory welcomes our inaugural artists in residence Josephine Starrs and Leon Cmielewski. Based in Sydney, Australia, Josephine and Leon are media artists whose long-term collaboration has produced a variety of screen-based installations. They will be based at Blast Theory from August 12 - 26.
For more about their collaborative projects visit http://lx.sysx.org/
TRUCOLD in Make Shift, Fringe Fusina, Venice
TRUCOLD will be screened alongside works by a selection of artists at Fringe Fusina, a newly established contemporary art event launching in 2009 during the 53rd Venice Biennale International Art Festival.
'Make Shift' has been curated around the theme of temporary production sites and physical/mental spaces where the processes of making can be seen to take place. The exhibition partners a program of screened video works with a collection of placed and interventional artworks created on-site via instructional text messages and a restricted bank of materials.
18th–24th August
For more information: http://thegrey-area.blogspot.com/2009/
Rider Spoke summer tour 2009
Rider Spoke continues its successful touring itinerary with European and UK dates over summer 2009.
LIGHTSOUND programme as part of Metropolis Biennale, Copenhagen, 12th - 16th August
www.lyslyd.com/en
Linz Capital of Culture 2009 and Ars Electronica, 30th August - 7th September
www.linz09.at
www.aec.at
The Bristol Do at Arnolfini, 21st - 27th September
www.thebristoldo.com
Rider Spoke Edinburgh
The British Council Showcase is held every two years and provides a platform for the best of British Live Art, performance and dance. It attracts promoters and presenters from across the world.
Rider Spoke will be presented for delegates from 24th - 27th August and was announced as a Showcase highlight in The Guardian.
www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009
www.britishcouncil.org/arts-drama-edinburgh.htm
Blast Theory intern applications deadline 31st July
Blast Theory are running placements for interns at their studios with a deadline for applications twice a year. The placements are for a minimum of one month and a maximum of three months.
For full details on how to apply and more information on the scheme please donwload the application form here.
Trainee technical post now available
Blast Theory are looking for a trainee IT technician to tour with the group.
Applications are invited from recent graduates with a talent for working in IT and an interest in interactive art.
For more information, download details here
"The best piece at the Biennale"
Ulrike and Eamon Compliant has had a fantastic reception and was picked by several curators as the best work they saw at the Venice Biennale. Photos by Anne Brassier are now on our Flickr site.
www.dlwp.com/dlwpinternational/venice
www.flickr.com/photos
Sydney Rider Spoke documentary online
Jess Scully and Jonathon Rogers made a short film for the British Council about Rider Spoke at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney which is now up on YouTube.
www.youtube.com
New partnership on the Digital Economy
Blast Theory are a partner in the Horizon, a major new research initiative led by the University of Nottingham that is exploring the potential of ubiquitous computing to transform our digital economy. Horizon will be launching a new research programme focusing on the themes of creative industries and transportation, supported by a Doctoral Training Centre that will train 100 PhD students in this area.
http://communications.nottingham.ac.uk
Residency Programme applications now invited
Blast Theory is currently calling for applications for the
20 Wellington Road Residency Programme, for the period 2009 – 2011. Expressions of interest are invited from individuals working in the following fields:
- Pervasive & location based gaming & interactive media
- Mobile & portable devices in cultural & artistic practice
- Games design and theory
- Interdisciplinary and live art practice
The deadline for applications is July 31, 2009. Further details and an application form are available here
John Hunter joins as Artists' Assistant
We are delighted to announce that John Hunter, a recent graduate in Drama and Theatre, from Royal Holloway, University of London, has joined us as Artists' Assistant.
Hannah Brady has left Blast Theory to go freelance as a Production Manager after working with us for three years. We would like to wish Hannah good luck and we are certain John will be a fantastic addition to the group.
Sam Pearson and Clara Garcia Fraile are in residence
Sam Pearson and Clara Garcia Fraile are in residence for one month working on a new project called In My Shoes. They are developing a 'wearable film' which seemingly places the viewer within someone else's body.
This is our first residency at 20 Wellington Road and we are delighted to welcome, support and mentor Sam and Clara on this exciting project.
They have successfully received research and development funding from the Arts Council South East and are supported by Lighthouse.
For more information
www.parachutesandpuzzles.com
Ulrike and Eamon Compliant premieres at 53rd Venice Biennale
Blast Theory presents a new work 'Ulrike and Eamon Compliant', commissioned by the De La Warr Pavilion for the 53rd Venice Biennale.
At the Palazzo Zenobio
Fondamenta del Soccorso
Dorodurso
Venice, Italy
Dates: 4th - 7th June, daily 10am - 6pm
Ulrike and Eamon Compliant is a new ambulatory work exploring subjectivity in the heart of the streets, squares and churches of Venice. It invites audiences to become participants and interlocutors with the artists.
Developed with the support of the Mixed Reality Lab, University of Nottingham and made possible by the generous support of Arts Council England and Turning Point South East with the cooperation of Nuova Icona and Oratorio di San Ludovico.
www.dlwp.com
Blast Theory are looking for a very practical, hands on intern to start immediately
You will be helping out on a new work 'Ulrike and Eamon Compliant' which has been commissioned by De La Warr Pavillion for the 53rd Biennale of Venice.
We pay a day rate of £20, you need basic carpentry skills, have a keen eye for detail and work well in a team.
If this sounds like you and you are interested to work with us on this exciting project, please contact hannah@blasttheory.co.uk as soon as possible.
Shockwave developer required
We're looking for an experienced Shockwave 3D developer to take responsibility for bug-fixing an existing Shockwave 3D client used for our online performances.
You will be responsible for identifying and implementing a solution, liaising with the original developers and preparing tests for signing off the work.
For full details and how to apply please download the pdf.
Artists' Assistant required
Blast Theory is currently calling for applications for our Artists' Assistant position. This is a one-year full-time contract, joining our team of six people.
For full details please download the job description here.
Deadline for applications is April 20th 2009
Interviews May 5th 2009
Starting June 15th 2009
Please send all CV's and covering letter to dan@blasttheory.co.uk
or by post to:
Dan Lamont
Administrator
Blast Theory
Unit 5
20 Wellington Road
Portslade
, Brighton
BN41 1DN, United Kingdom
Rider Spoke reviewed in RealTime Arts Magazine
David Williams took part in Rider Spoke in Sydney. To find out what he thought read his review published in RealTime Arts Magazine here
www.realtimearts.net
Desert Rain acclaimed in The Guardian
Lyn Gardner has listed nine productions since 1983 that transformed theatre and has included Desert Rain at the Riverside Studios.
Link: www.guardian.co.uk/stage
New blog on Pervasive Games
In the run up to the publication of Pervasive Games: Theory and Design for which Matt Adams has written a text, the authors - Markus Montola and Jaakko Stenros - have started a blog on pervasive games.
pervasivegames.wordpress.com
Can You See Me Now? at ARCO, Spain
Can You See Me Now? will be presented as part of Arco 09 International Contemporary Art Fair in Madrid from February 13 - 15. Game times are 5.30-8.30pm (CET)
Register to play here
For more information on ARCO click here
Becky Edmunds joins Blast Theory as Associate Artist
We are very pleased to announce that Becky Edmunds has joined Blast Theory as an Associate Artist. Becky joins Dicky Eton, Sheila Ghelani, Niki Woods and Paul Dungworth as a regular collaborator.
Please click here to read a biography for Becky.
Rider Spoke in Australia
Rider Spoke will tour to Australia in February 2009 presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney and at the Adelaide Film Festival. The artists will be doing talks, workshops and mentoring at Crossover as part of their visit.
Rider Spoke runs from the George St entrance of the MCA from Feb 6 – 8 and Feb 11 – 15.
In Adelaide Rider Spoke runs from Bike SA in the Adelaide CBD from Feb 20 - 21.
Sydney
Presented by the British Council and Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, in association with the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney.
Click here for more information
Adelaide
Presented by the Adelaide Film Festival with support from Adelaide City Council and Bike SA.
Click here for more information
Crossover
Click here for more information
Matt Adams interview online
During the recent presentation of Day Of The Figurines at the Centre Pour L'Image Contemporaine Matt did an interview which is now online.
Click here to watch
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