Announcing #08: Adventures in Data

A new material for artists to shape and manipulate into meaning, leading to new vistas, real-time interaction and stories of ambitious scale.

In this Spring/Summer edition of Artful Spark, the demos will be back with a bang, along with artists, inventors and makers discussing their adventures in data.

Collecting it, manipulating it, juxtaposing it, augmenting live performances, telling big stories, small stories, making art, making mayhem…

Get your ticket now!

Everything, every time / Naho Matsuda

Confirmed speakers

Alison Killing, TED Fellow/WIRED Creative Fellow and digital documentary maker, will talk about Migration Trail, a mapped data visualisation that tells migration stories in real time over ten days.

Aste Amundsen, a pioneer in immersive festival environments and SWCTN Immersion Fellow, brings news from the frontline of how data can augment live interaction between actors and audiences.

Artist and multidisciplinary designer Naho Matshuda will talk about every thing every time, a meditation on the data that passes through the fabric of the (smart) city each day, questioning not only the role data has in our lives, but the use and value it has as it is collected.

-> Catch a sneak-peak of Naho discussing data & poetry in this Guardian Podcast

Have you got a demo to share? Works in progress and mad experiments considered!

Get in touch

Migration Trail / Allison Killing

#07 in review: Bandersnatch, Blast Theory, VR and dansathons

A rich theme, jam-packed lineup and ¡WORLD EXCLUSIVE! as #Bandersnatch producer Russell McLean took us through the tools that made a mainstream interaction film phenomenon.

The demos will be back in full force next time around but we tried something different for the 7th Artful Spark: two great panels offering diverse perspectives on what it means to produce interdisciplinary work.

Read on for a quick look back at “Artful Spark #07 Producers, Unite!”

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#07 announced: Producers, Unite!

Often misunderstood but absolutely essential: what makes a great producer?

“Creative cat-herding with pathological positivity”, according to Sarah Ellis (RSC).

In the arts, in broadcast, in digital – and any other creative industry you care to imagine –  producers will be dragging projects off the page and into reality. They are everywhere: the glue, the guide, the lightning rod and the cattle prod.

Artful Spark #07 will celebrate the producers who defy categorisation, revealing the tools, techniques and mistakes made in cross-artform production. We’ll explore the experience of self-producing, how producers reflect the cultural values of the institutions they work for, and what professional development looks like in a rapidly changing landscape.

The evening will also be packed with demos that exemplify boundary defying-work.

RichMix, Wednesday 30th Jan, doors 6pm

Get your ticket now!

Playful Interfaces: Programming So Far

Tired of touchscreens? Ditch the keyboard and join us for something far more playful.

Think curious controllers, quirky inputs and ways of engaging that just feel more…fun! This edition features the creative pioneers turning our physical world into a playground.

From the explosion of escape rooms and indie arcade games to embedding play in urban infrastructure, videogames are spilling out into the real world. We’re celebrating the brilliant teams working beyond screens in pursuit of simple, accessible experiences that reward experimentation and revel in their own tactility.

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New home, new theme: Rich Mix hosts #06 Playful Interfaces!

We’ve been on the search for a new home since January, so we’re pleased to announce both our new venue partner and the next edition of Artful Spark…

We asked for help – and the community answered. You made calls, marshalled your contact books, and  we can now call the incredible Rich Mix home. In their own words, “A cultural space for everyone in the heart of East London.”

For our inaugural edition at Rich Mix we’re talking to the people that turn our world into a playground.  From the explosion of escape rooms, to the popularity of indie arcade games at Now Play This, to the embedding of play in science festivals, videogames are spilling out into the real world. We’re programming the people leading the charge.

Thursday 25th October, Rich Mix, 6pm to 9pm

Watch this space for programming and tickets!

In review: #05 Real time

After a 2017 hiatus (that passed in a flash!) Artful Spark bounced back with a bumper January edition alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company focussed on real-time technologies.

Read on for holograms, tap-dance, reactive LEDs and the most advanced motion capture suit in the world.

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Full program: Artful Spark #05 x Royal Shakespeare Company: Real Time

After a little 2017 hiatus, we’re hitting the ground running on Wednesday 10th, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and a plethora of demos to get your hands on.

Wednesday 10th Jan, Barbican Fountain Room (ground floor)
Doors at 6pm

Speakers

The RSC’s Sarah Ellis and Epic Games’ Ben Lumsden
A play that couldn’t be more suited to real-time special effects, RSC’s The Tempest was produced in collaboration with Intel and in association with The Imaginarium Studios.
@sarahnellis // @BenjLumsden // Take a look behind the scenes [Video]

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